By Kris Rhim
The NBA’s slam dunk contest has lost some of its luster in recent years, as the biggest stars have opted out. But that did not matter Saturday night as Mac McClung, who has played in only two NBA games in his career, delivered one eye-popping dunk after another to win.
By the time McClung, who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers’ development league affiliate, went for his final dunk, the trophy all but had his name on it. Fans stood and players crowded the court to see his finale.
Wearing his high school jersey on his fourth attempt, McClung finished a spinning reverse dunk and yelled, “It’s over,” as the crowd cheered. He ended up with perfect scores of 50 on three of four dunks.
Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans finished as the runner-up.
He provided his best performance of the night when he asked the contest judges and the crowd which of two dunk styles they preferred and then delivered a combination of both.
Kenyon Martin Jr., a Houston Rockets forward, had two exciting dunks. For one of them, he had help from his father, former NBA star Kenyon Martin Sr., who threw a pass that Martin reverse slammed. But both of his dunks took multiple attempts, hurting his score, and he missed the finals.
Jericho Sims of the New York Knicks did not receive as much of a crowd response as he made two dunks in which he put his arms inside the hoop. On the second one, he attached a card to the rim with “50” written on the inside, hoping for a perfect score, but he did not get one and was eliminated early.
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