Can dunk champion contribute in the NBA?
Mac McClung is out to prove that there is substance to his game and not just flash.
Consecutive wins in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest have put McClung on a pedestal but haven’t landed him a regular spot on an NBA team. His hope is that his production in the NBA G League will see him take the next step in his career.
McClung, despite the production in college and now with the Osceola (Florida) Magic in the G League, remains one of the most polarizing players in the G League.
In many ways, McClung doesn’t fit the mold for what the NBA wants from a point guard, and his highlight reel is a reason why he has just a handful of NBA games to his resume. It is easy to pigeonhole the high-flying McClung as an outlier, the type of player who makes highlights with his fashionable dunks and shots but doesn’t fit into the modern game.
But McClung, now three seasons removed from college, says that while he still is a YouTube sensation, there is a growing depth and nuance to his game.
It all started in high school in Gate City, Virginia, where his mixtape originated and showed a player who was unafraid and generated over 3.3 million views. McClung has never seen a shot he doesn’t like which, combined with his ability to dunk, made his high school highlights go viral.
But his free style also had detractors, making him an easy target to nitpick. Despite the attention from last month’s Slam Dunk Contest, McClung has very quietly been developing and rounding out his game.
The point guard is continuing to develop his allaround game.
“I think it’s always an excuse, like, always try to take out an excuse every summer like, ‘Oh, he can’t shoot’ and then I shot 47% (in 2022),” McClung told USA TODAY Sports Weekly. He shot 55% in the G League last year and was at 49% at press time.
“My first year, they were saying I wasn’t a playmaker, so I tried to average eight assists,” he says. “Each year I try to take out an excuse, I try to make the right play every time. I can shoot off the dribble from 3. Like each year I try taking the summer for something I can improve.
“There’s always something to improve.” McClung is a shooter, who averaged 14.7 points during his three seasons of college basketball (two years at Georgetown and his final season with Texas Tech). But he was labeled as too flamboyant in his style by his critics and was not selected in the 2021 NBA draft.
He has played four games in the NBA, averaging 8.3 points and shooting 46.2% from the field. About a month removed from winning the Slam Dunk Contest, he remained with the Orlando Magic’s G League affiliate.
“I think his outlook is good,” said former NBA scout Michael Vandegarde. “He has the NBA’s attention with his athleticism. He needs to contribute to winning as a role player. Highlight dunks are 1% of the game. Offensively and defensively, he needs to contribute to winning.”
Vandegarde spent 18 years with the Philadelphia 76ers, much of that time spent as a scout. He praised McClung for his “physical intangibles” but said that there is more that NBA teams want to see from developmental players.
These attributes include their work on defense, the ability to consistently make shots and fitting into a team’s culture. McClung’s highlight reel ability, Vandegarde said, is a selling point for an NBA team as “he can bring a crowd to its feet.”
McClung won’t shy away from his flash. It is a part of his game.
“I think that’s who I am. But I’m not really out there trying to prove (that) to anybody – I think that’s just like that’s just my résumé and that’s what I’m trying to
build,” McClung said
“I’m not really trying to prove anything to anybody. I always live by that I’ve got nothing to prove. Everything is in the game. When someone wants me that that’ll be for them.”
Even for a player who went viral before his college career started at Georgetown, the NBA Slam Dunk Contest has been a huge stage for McClung.
This season’s winning dunk, where he took the basketball out of the hands of Shaquille O’Neal and dunked over the Hall of Fame center, solidified McClung as a walking highlight.
He thought up the dunk with his friends and had them stand on boxes and chairs to reach O’Neal’s height. In an empty gym, McClung will practice the dunk with his friends standing still on crates, playing the role of O’Neal.
“They would come and visit me in Orlando and we’d practice late night and just try to figure out some notes so I can be prepared for the moment.
“But you know, it’s never really the same in the moment.”
Following his win in February, McClung was at a Raising Cane’s location in Orlando, making a promotional appearance for the fast-food chain. He served up box combos while working the drive-thru and the counter. It’s all part of a concept with which he feels he has always been familiar.
“I was telling everybody last time I just had such a fun time kind of being part of a team,” McClung said. “It’s not the same like on the court but it’s like a team in the restaurant and I enjoyed it.”