- Mac McClung became the sixth player to win multiple Slam Dunk contests.
- The Osceola Magic player obtained five perfect scores on his last attempt
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NBA G-League champion Mac McClung won his second straight dunk contest after narrowly beating Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown by one point.
For his game-winning dunk, McClung jumped more than 7 feet 1 inch past Shaquille O’Neal after asking the Hall of Famer to put on his old high school jersey.
McClung then took the ball from the big man’s hands for a reverse dunk. That earned him a perfect score in the final round of the event.
McClung finished with 98.8 points on his final two dunks and became the sixth player to win the contest twice and the first to do so in consecutive seasons since Zach LaVine in 2015 and 2016.
“Shaq was great about putting my high school jersey on him,” McClung said during a news conference after All-Star Saturday was completed.
‘You’re almost thrilled that he did that. But I said, “Would you wear it?” and he said, “You better not miss a dunk,” and I said, “Okay, I won’t miss it.”
NBA G-League Champion Mac McClung Won His Second Consecutive Slam Dunk Contest
McClung completed a reverse dunk over Shaquille O’Neal in his final attempt to win the event.
The G-League star needed something special to win over the judges after Brown jumped on Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell while wearing a sequined glove on his left hand to troll fans who say the Celtics wing can’t go left when he has the ball.
Earlier, Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. also jumped on O’Neal for his first dunk of the night. But he did not advance to the final round of the competition.
Jacob Toppin of the New York Knicks, who primarily played for the Westchester Knicks, the team’s G-League affiliate, was eliminated in the first round.
He beat Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown in the finals to win his second dunk contest.
Jaquez scored 47.4 and 46.8 on his two dunks, while Toppin received scores of 47.8 and 47.2.
McClung, 25, has failed to stay on an NBA roster despite his success in back-to-back dunk contests.
He has played in four NBA games in his career, one with the Chicago Bulls and one with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season, and two with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2022-23 season.
Before this season, McClung was released by the Orlando Magic. He has played in 14 games for the Osceola Magic franchise and is averaging 23.7 points and 7.2 assists.