McClung win brings buzz
SALT LAKE CITY — Mac McClung was not exactly an unknown.
Long before he won the dunk contest at NBA All-Star Saturday, he was a YouTube phenomenon. It’s impossible to add up all the views that videos of McClung — everything from dunks to documentaries — had gotten, but it was in the hundreds of millions.
Yet it all seems different now, after this 6-foot-2 boyish-looking guard from a small town in Virginia with trampolines for legs and only two NBA games on his resume became the league’s dunk champ and brought buzz back to an event that had been more criticized than celebrated over the last few years.
“He saved the dunk contest,” Shaquille O’Neal said, and countless others echoed those sentiments.
Time will tell if they’re right. But an event that is designed to create unforgettable moments — Michael Jordan taking off from the foul line, Vince Carter saying “it’s over” after a dunk, Aaron Gordon jumping over the Magic mascot, Dwight Howard donning the Superman cape — got a massive shot in the arm from a guy who now has more dunks in the contest (four) than he does in actual NBA games (one).
“It’s a cliche, but you can really do whatever you want to do,” said McClung, who’s on a two-way contract with the 76ers and playing in the G League. “I’ve had so many people even at the highest level ... if you are a young kid, and someone who is an inspiration to you, someone that you respect so much tells you that you can’t do it, it doesn’t matter. Literally, if you manifest and put your mind to it, you can literally make your life and reinvent yourself every day.”
The reactions from NBA players watching the show, both in Salt Lake City and elsewhere, were amazing.
“Tough,” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell shouted as he watched courtside, while several other All-Stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo — with his mouth open in disbelief — filmed the action on their phones.
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry said on Twitter: “Man was a viral (House of Highlights) high school dunk phenom, still working his way to the League, but lemme go get that dunk contest trophy right quick and bring it back to life!!! Unreal.”
McClung knows he’s an underdog story. He grew up playing football and baseball in Gate City, Virginia, before deciding sometime around sixth or seventh grade — standing barely 5 feet tall at that point — that basketball would be his priority.
He started going viral in high school for his array of dunks.
If he was an unknown to NBA fans, that’s understandable. He had the final basket of the 2021-22 season, making an uncontested reverse dunk to cap the Lakers’ win over the Nuggets last April. That was his third, and most recent, NBA field goal.
But, even if he hasn’t gotten to establish himself at the NBA level yet, there’s no question that he can play. He broke records held by Allen Iverson and J.J. Redick in high school. He had big numbers at Texas Tech and Georgetown.
And now, he’s a dunk champion. He’s viral, again. Maybe this time the NBA door will open.