McClung pulls off 1st NBA slam dunk contest three-peat

Mac McClung continued his annual tradition of stealing the NBA spotlight for a day, as the G League standout won his third consecutive NBA slam-dunk title during All-Star Saturday in San Francisco.

McClung has played in just five minutes of one NBA game this season for the Orlando Magic — and five games over the past five seasons — but his leaping ability remains at an elite level. Using his showmanship, McClung delivered four consecutive perfect scores to get the best of the San Antonio Spurs' Stephon Castle in the final round.

Earlier in the evening, the Miami Heat's Tyler Herro won the 3-point contest, while the Cleveland Cavaliers' duo of Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell won the skills competition.

In the dunk competition, McClung jumped over a person in all four of his successful attempts, including one that also included a car in the first round and a double dunk for his third perfect score when he jumped over somebody spinning on a hoverboard.

The title-clinching final dunk came over the 2.11-meter-tall Mobley, who was standing on a small platform.

"Truly, stuff like this doesn't happen without standing on the shoulders of a lot of people," McClung said on the TNT broadcast. "I had a lot of help. People were opening gyms to fit a car in. People were allowing me to use their car. I'm just really grateful right now."

After three titles in three years, McClung hinted at the end of his one-hit wonder days.

"This might be it for me, but we'll see," he said. "If they want me back, then I'll think about it."

Matas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls and Andre Jackson Jr of the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the dunk contest.

In the 3-point contest, Herro won with a score of 24 in the final round to get the best of Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who posted a score of 19, and Buddy Hield of the host Golden State Warriors, with a score of 23.

Herro became the fifth Miami Heat player to win the long-distance shooting competition after James Jones (2011), Daequan Cook (2009), Jason Kapono (2007) and Glen Rice (1995).

With Garland eliminated, Herro went first in the final round. Hield could have forced an extra round against Herro if he made all five two-point shots on his final rack, but he missed the fourth of the bunch.

"I got lucky," Herro said on the TNT broadcast. "I thought Buddy was going to run off the last five there, so it was a great competition. Buddy's a great shooter, a bunch of great shooters that competed, so just happy to be here."

Hield had the highest score of the first round with a 31, matching the most ever in a round with the Warriors' Stephen Curry (2021) and the Indiana Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton (2023).

Five competitors were eliminated in the 3-point first round: Jalen Brunson (New York Knicks), Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons), Cam Johnson (Brooklyn Nets), Norman Powell (Los Angeles Clippers) and two-time defending champion Damian Lillard (Bucks).

In the skills challenge, the Cavaliers delivered a final-round time of an even one minute to get the best of the Warriors' Draymond Green and Moses Moody.

The four-team skills challenge consisted of an obstacle-style course that had two passing tests, three shooting stations, one more passing station followed by a half-court drive to the basket and layup.

Mobley also was a part of the Cavaliers' three-player squad that won the skills challenge in 2022.

The San Antonio Spurs' duo of Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama were disqualified from the opening round Saturday after not making a legitimate shot attempt at any of the three shooting stations, while simply concentrating on time.

The rookie squad of Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks and Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards also was eliminated in the first round.

Reuters