Mac McClung Wins 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest: Where Win Ranks All-Time
The 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest took place on Saturday night at Vivint Arena, home of the Utah Jazz. Philadelphia 76ers point guard Mac McClung won the event, and he stole the show from start to finish.
McClung won the newly-named Dr. J Trophy—in honor of Julius "Dr. J" Erving—with a nearly flawless performance. The G League baller, who only recently signed a two-way contract with Philadelphia, beat out Kenyon Martin Jr. of the Houston Rockets, the New York Knicks' Jericho Sims and Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Established NBA stars have tended to shy away from the dunk contest in recent years, and this year's field was arguably not much more impressive than last year's field, which featured Obi Toppin, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Cole Anthony and Jalen Green. McClung's performance was far, far better.
The 24-year-old scored a perfect 50 points on three of his four dunks. It was clear that he was the one to beat from his first attempt—a leap over two of his friends into a reverse jam off the glass.
"We just wanted to try to make something up that we haven't seen before, and the first dunk, I hadn't seen before, so hopefully, it's not out there," McClung said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
McClung followed that with a 360 windmill that somehow didn't earn a perfect score. This put McClung into the final round against Murphy, but with all due respect to Murphy, it wasn't much of a contest.
The final portion of the competition featured two more 50-point dunks from McClung—a double-pump reverse and an incredible 540 jam to cap his win in walk-off fashion.
Thanks to McClung's performance, this year's competition felt like a big step up from last year's, it might even stand along some of the best all-time dunk contest performances.
Michael Jordan's 1988 performance remains perhaps the best ever. Not only was Jordan electric throughout the event, but his showdown with Dominique Wilkins—who was one of the five judges on Saturday—was simply spectacular.
While the Jordan-Wilkins showdown was arguably the best of all time, Vince Carter might have had the best overall individual performance with his showing in 2000.
Carter, a prolific dunker who starred in the NBA for more than two decades, had a nearly flawless performance in Oakland that year. (Watch for yourself, it was majestic).
And, of course, who could forget about when Aaron Gordon, then with the Orlando Magic, jumped over Stuff the Magic Dragon in 2016? It reigns as one of the most memorable single dunks in the competition's history—which dates back to 1984.
The fact that Gordon didn't even win the 2016 competition shows how memorable his battle with champion Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves truly was.
McClung's first dunk was very reminiscent of Gordon's.
Other top performances include Spud Webb's 1986 victory and Nate Robinson's 2006 win—which came in a contest that saw Andre Iguodala dunk from behind and underneath the backboard.
That contest also had Robinson dunking over Webb and a neck-and-neck dunk-off between Robinson and Iguodala.
Saturday's event didn't feature the sort of tight finish that highlighted the 1988 showdown or even the 2006 contest. Carter's 2000 win will likely remain viewed as the best individual performance of all time, at least for now.
However, no one could be faulted for saying that McClung's win was just as impressive as Carter's. While it lacked the drama of some other legendary contests, McClung's victory is probably a top-five performance and certainly falls within the top 10.
McClung may not have a lot of NBA experience—two games between stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls—he earned a place in NBA history on Saturday night.
Presumably, McClung will be back to defend his title next year. It will be fun to see what he has in store for an encore and what other contestants pull out in order to top him.
