SAN FRANCISCO — Pretty much every year we see a variant of the same idea. Some NBA superstar is sitting in a hotel room or on a tropical island in the early days of the All-Star break, watching either a Dunk Contest for the ages or one more suited for a fast food dumpster. Afterward they get the itch and can’t resist putting out to millions of social media followers that they’re thinking about signing up for next year’s contest.
This time around it was high-flying Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, clearly inspired — like the rest of us — by the third iteration of Mac McClung’s incomprehensible aerial majesty.
“Mac might make me decide to dunk,” he tweeted, made all the more intriguing by the fact that Morant had earlier this season decreed a self-imposed ban of dunking … which lasted about 72 hours.
Morant’s tweet received a notable reply from Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who said, “If you do it. I’ll do it with you,” followed by a “100” emoji.
The emoji selection is appropriate, since there’s a 100% chance that this is never going to happen.
The most famous “I’m gonna do the dunk contest!” guy is LeBron James, who teased participation on multiple occasions but has never pulled the trigger. NBA analysts and former players alike have blamed James’ lack of zest for the contest as part of the reason why it’s declined so steeply since the glory days of Michael Jordan and Vince Carter.
But those arguments are built upon a false premise: That fans want to see stars in the Dunk Contest. How do we know it’s a false premise? Look no further than McClung, the only three-peat winner in NBA history.
Now 26 years old, McClung has played in exactly five NBA games. He’s played as many NBA minutes (71) as points that Donovan Mitchell once scored in a single game. Not many outside the high school mixtape circuit, had even heard of McClung prior to his first Dunk Contest call-up three years ago.
The answer, folks, is right in front of our faces. It’s not the stars that will draw excitement. It’s the dunks. McClung has creativity, charisma and — most of all — an unbridled passion for dunking. By his own admission, he spent “eight or nine months” working on the dunks that we all ogled on Saturday night. Part of that, presumably, is because he’s not saddled with the demands of being an NBA superstar.
“It’s just something I love doing,” McClung said after his win on Saturday night. “I think that’s where my creativity comes. It’s because I genuinely love this contest and I love to dunk.”
Think back to Jaylen Brown. An All-NBA player who would go on to win Finals MVP for one of the most marquee franchises in sports was in the Dunk Contest last year. Oh wait? You forgot? That’s because he was absolutely blown out of the water by McClung in the final round.
Here we have a literal representation of skill and performance over name recognition, and yet we’re still clamoring that we need stars to save the Dunk Contest? Make it make sense.
Here’s a modest proposal: Instead of relentlessly banging down the doors of people who don’t want to be in the Dunk Contest, and would probably do a mediocre job when they got there, why don’t we go the other way? McClung is a G League star, and there are likely others there who can put on an absolute show when it comes to dunking the basketball. Just look at some of these highlights from the G League Dunk Contest over the years. Tell me some of these folks couldn’t draw more excitement than Andre Jackson Jr. and Matas Buzelis — NBA names that most casual fans would meet with blank stares.
And if we’re really serious about getting the best possible dunks on the floor on Saturday night, why don’t we dip into the world or professional dunkers? Yes, that’s a thing, and it’s truly glorious. All the time that LeBron spends honing his basketball skills, these guys dedicate simply to dunking.
McClung mentioned that Isaiah Rivera helped him with his preparation for Saturday’s win, even lending him his car to practice what will undoubtedly go down as one of the best dunks in the history of the contest. If you’re unfamiliar with Rivera’s work, here’s just a brief snippet of his capability as a dunker.
You’re saying you don’t want that in the Dunk Contest? Or how about this insanity from Jordan Kilganon?
Sure, you’ve never heard of these guys. But you’d never heard of Mac McClung either, and now he’s a household name who we are hoping and praying will come back for another year after he said he was “probably thinking about hanging it up after this one.” It’s a testament to how much work it takes to be this good as a dunker.
“This year really felt that big challenge,” McClung said on Saturday night. “Yeah, I don’t know. I never want to say never, man, but I think this one took a lot out of me, for sure. I prepared very early and put a lot of work into it.”
McClung has proven, without a doubt, that fans will respond to great dunkers with magnetic charm and a unique arsenal. At this point, with the degree of difficulty and creativity required to do something truly original, you’re just not going to get that from NBA superstars.
The NBA opened the door a crack for McClung, and he damn near broke the thing down. If the league truly wants to save the Dunk Contest, it’s time to allow other non-NBA dunkers to rush through.
