Mac McClung will leave it up to others to decide where he ranks among the best dunkers ever, but when it comes to the dunk contest, there is no doubt.
The G League star and dunk maven put on a remarkable show at the NBA All-Star Saturday Night by recording perfect scores of 50 on all four of his jaw-dropping, creative dunks to become the first player to win three straight dunk contests.
“It kind of feels like a blur,” he said. “It’s something I love doing. That’s where my creativity comes is I genuinely love this contest and I love to dunk.”
Photo: AP
Nate Robinson is the only other player to win the dunk contest three times, taking it in 2006 and then repeating in 2009-2010.
McClung needed to be nearly perfect to top San Antonio’s Stephon Castle in the final round after Castle followed up a 49.6 with his first dunk with a 50 on his second when he went behind his back to switch from his right hand to left before the slam.
McClung was up to the task and now has as many dunk contest wins in his career as he does dunks in NBA games, according to Sportradar, as he has only played five games in the NBA.
For his final dunk, McClung stationed 2.11m Evan Mobley on a platform in front of the basket. With Mobley holding the ball behind his head, the 1.88m McClung jumped over him, tapped the rim with the ball before slamming it home to the delight of the crowd and judges.
His performance got NBA stars like Ja Morant and Giannis Antetokounmpo to talk about getting into the contest to go up against McClung.
“I think the contest is a beautiful thing,” McClung said. “I know people probably want bigger stars in it and I would love to see that. I think it’s important for the people in it to want to do it... This contest is a special thing. We all love it.”
McClung’s first dunk in the final round featured him taking one ball in midair for a windmill dunk with his right hand while slamming home another stationed near the rim with his left.
McClung also received two perfect scores in the opening round. On the first, a car was parked in the lane with a person standing through the sunroof with a ball. McClung jumped over the car, took the ball and did a reverse, behind-the-head dunk drawing gasps from the crowd and a 50.
McClung did not disappoint on his next try despite having already clinched a spot in the final. He jumped over a person holding the ball and did a twisting, no-look dunk, getting baseball star Barry Bonds to jump out if his seat for another 50.
McClung said he spent eight or nine months preparing for this contest and is not sure if he would go for a fourth straight title.
“I never want to say never, but this one took a lot out of me.” he said.
Meanwhile, the Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro edged out the Golden State Warriors’ Buddy Hield to win the three-point contest, while the Cleveland Cavaliers duo Mobley and Donovan Mitchell teamed up to knock off hometown heroes Moses Moody and Draymand Green to win the NBA’s Skills Challenge crown.
The San Antonio Spurs duo of Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified for trying to cheat the rules in the obstacle course that features players speeding through stations with various passing and shooting drills.
Wembanyama and Paul went first in the opening round and were loudly booed for not even trying to make real attempts on their shots, just tossing the balls off the racks. They were ultimately disqualified.
“We tried something that we thought could win,” Paul said. “To see if we had the best time, so ... it was fun.”
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when
RSS