A guy with more dunks than actual NBA field goals might have saved the dunk contest. He played in one game last season for the Chicago Bulls, one other game for the Los Angeles Lakers. Philadelphia would become his third NBA team, and he hasn't even played for the 76ers yet. 'Proving others right instead of others wrong brings a little more satisfaction.' 'Ever since the beginning, I was the underdog,' said McClung, who put on a Gate City jersey - his high school and hometown in Virginia, population 1,600 - for the final dunk. He was signed by Golden State last year but never played in a regular-season game for the Warriors, and spent a little time on USA Basketball's World Cup qualifying team last year as well. He was undrafted in 2021 after spending three college seasons at Georgetown and Texas Tech. His is an unbelievable story: McClung has played mostly in the G League, where he ranks 36th in scoring this season at 19 points per game. The final score, not that it mattered, was McClung 100.0, Murphy 98.0. 'If you guys will have me, I'll be back,' McClung said.

And he immediately committed to defending his title at Indianapolis at All-Star Saturday next year.

Everyone in the building knew he'd already won. By the time the judges' scores came up it was already decided. 'I'm truly blessed and grateful for the NBA giving me this opportunity,' McClung said.Ī 540-degree dunk - not a 360, but a 540, him doing one-and-a-half rotations in the air, a move more reserved for figure skaters and skateboarders than basketball players - was his third perfect score of the night out of four dunks. McClung, the 6-foot-2 Philadelphia guard on a two-way contract, defeated New Orleans' Trey Murphy III in the finals of the dunk contest, culminating an NBA All-Star Saturday that may have finally answered the question as to whether what used to be the league's signature event can be glitzy again. SALT LAKE CITY - Mac McClung might have single-handedly restored the shine on a dunk contest that has been widely panned in recent years.

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