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Shaquille O’Neal seemed to speak for everyone watching Mac McClung competing in the NBA All Star AT&T Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night.
The newest member of the Philadelphia 76ers was an unlikely entrant into the contest, and pulled off an even more unlikely victory. McClung outshined some tough competition on the way to his win and garnered a viral reaction from the legendary NBA player for a perfect-score dunk.
Shaq Amazed at McClung’s Hops
McClung had already attracted plenty of attention before the contest. In January, the league extended an invitation to McClung to compete and made him the first-ever G League player to compete in the contest.
As The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Mike Vorkunov noted at the time, McClung was in the midst of a standout season with the Delaware Blue Coats, averaging 17.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while gaining a reputation for his high-flying dunks.
The league was rewarded for the decision. McClung, who earlier this week signed a two-way contract with the Sixers, was the standout of Saturday’s contest with three perfect-score dunks. The biggest buzz came on the final one of the night, a spinning baseline slam in the finals against New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III that had Shaq nearly speechless.
For the broadcast of Saturday night’s contest, TNT had a camera trained just on Shaq to catch his reactions. After McClung’s dunk, he could barely speak.
“Whoa,” O’Neal said. “Whoa, what was that? What was that?”
McClung had some other crowd-pleasing dunks, including one that saw him jumping clear over two people, one perched atop the other’s shoulders.
Before his heroics in the Dunk Contest, McClung kicked off All-Star weekend with an appearance on Friday’s Rising Stars game, where he notched 10 points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal in nine minutes.
“Obviously, I want to compete,” McClung said after the game, via the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But this is also an opportunity for you to look back and say, ‘Wow, I’m going to tell my kids about this one day. Like I was in the Rising Stars game.’ A lot of people dream to do that. So it was awesome.”
McClung Ready to Help Sixers Down the Stretch
McClung had given a hint of what was in his deep bag of dunks, telling The Athletic’s Charania that he had “at least two dunks that I know have never been done in any contest.”
McClung added that he was trying to keep a level head with the flurry of activity over the past few weeks, from his unexpected addition to the Dunk Contest to his contract with the Sixers.
“I feel like if you let it be a roller coaster, it will be so I know who I am and I’m excited for every opportunity I get and I’m gonna try to make the most of it,” McClung said. “It’s definitely been an eventful week planning all the dunks and also being called up. It’s funny how things really happen when you least expect it, but it’s all been a blessing.”
McClung added that he’s excited to join his teammates on the Sixers and believes he’ll fit right in.
“I’m a competitor. I’m a dog,” McClung told reporters after Friday’s Rising Stars game, via SI.com’s All Sixers. “I love this game like more than anything in the world. I come to compete. I come in to win. I know that’s what Philly is about. It’s just a bunch of dogs. So I’m super happy to be here.”
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