SALT LAKE CITY — Longtime Internet sensation, six-foot-two Mac McClung brought the dunk contest back to life in connection with Saturday’s NBA All-Star Game.
“He saved the contest,” Shaquille O’Neal said, a compliment echoed by many.
Time will tell, but he still gave a lot of pep to an event that had some classic moments – Michael Jordan taking his momentum from the free line, Dwight Howard with the cape or, of course, Vince Carter declaring that it was over.
McClung signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Donovan Mitchell are among the superstars who reacted in amazement to his dunks on Saturday.
Growing up in Gate City, Virginia, McClung first played football and baseball, before turning to basketball. In high school, several of his dunks wowed the gallery – on location and on the internet. At this stage he also broke marks from Allen Iverson and JJ Reddick.
“I want to be the type of player who can help his team win a championship,” McClung told The Associated Press last year. who can be counted on in the locker room.”
McClung netted the final basket of the 2021-22 NBA season, a high-flying dunk capping a Lakers win over the Nuggets in April. It was his third basket in the NBA – and his most recent.
Impressive with Texas Tech and Georgetown, he is now an NBA dunk champion. Now let’s see if it will open doors for him.
“I don’t worry too much about what other people think, whether it’s good or bad, said McClung. I just keep going, that’s all. My goal is to have an impact in the NBA . I’m going to keep working until that happens.”
