No one must be stunned that Mac McClung gained the dunk contest. If you happen to’re a hoops fan, McClung has been within the public eye for a while now as a result of he can dunk effectively sufficient to go viral. Add in that he’s a 6-foot-2 white man, and you’ve got a recipe for web fame.

Earlier than I am going any additional, I simply need to say congrats to McClung. Severely. That felt like watching somebody’s desires come true.

He was a three-star prospect popping out of highschool, spent two years at Georgetown, averaged 13 factors on 11 makes an attempt his freshman yr, and 15 on 13 pictures as a sophomore earlier than transferring to Texas Tech. After a junior marketing campaign of placing up 15 factors on 12 tries per recreation, McClung entered the 2021 NBA Draft and didn’t get chosen.

He hasn’t performed in an NBA recreation this season after showing in two video games a yr in the past, every for a distinct franchise. The Philadelphia 76ers simply signed him to a two-way deal, and I doubt we’ll see him get any actual run if he will get in a recreation in any respect.

Nonetheless, he did this Saturday night time.

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That man is a professional dunker. Three of his four dunks received perfect scores, and the other missed out on a 50 by percentage points. The second time he jumped over people was kind of redundant, but he made everything on the first try. Considering what we’ve become accustomed to at what was once All-Star Weekend’s biggest event next to the game itself, this was a show.

There’ve been past weekends when the buzz from the dunk contest carried over to Sunday, and as a fan, it’s really special when that happens. If you can shock and awe NBA players, guys who see some of the greatest athletes on the planet night-to-night, then you have my attention and admiration.

And that leaves me at a loss. McClung is more YouTube sensation than professional basketball player, and I don’t know whether to be impressed or pissed. If the league wants to open up the dunk contest to amateurs, that’s fine. Let’s see what the And 1 hoopers are up to. McClung did a 540? So what. The Air Up There did a 720 dunk like a decade in the past. (“HE DID IT TWICE IN THE AIR!”)

The demise knell for the dunk contest sounded as soon as the largest names grew to become extra involved with preserving their picture than chancing embarrassment. I assumed if anybody wouldn’t give a shit about that it’d be Ja Morant, however nope, he handed regardless of attempting to kill actual NBA facilities on a weekly foundation.

Even a rookie like Shaedon Sharpe, whose head eclipses the rim 3 times a recreation, spurned the chance. And, actually, who might blame them? Why danger getting upstaged by a man that’s six months away from solely being broadcast on TikTok?

Dame Time delivers in Utah

Damian Lillard grew to become the primary Portland Path Blazer to win the three-point contest, and he did it in typical, clutch vogue, ready till the final ball on the final rack to prime former winner Buddy Hield.

It was slightly anticlimactic as a result of Tyrese Haliburton nonetheless had but to go, however he wasted all his juice on the 31 he posted within the opening spherical. Lillard performed faculty ball at Weber State, about 36 minutes north of Salt Lake Metropolis, and ingratiated himself additional to the house crowd by donning his Wildcats jersey together with his nickname “Dolla” on the again.