After another overall disappointing All-Star weekend, there was one bright spot to it all for the NBA and the Philadelphia 76ers. Mac McClung.
Even if you decided to take a break from being angry from the still-crushing Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl loss or turn off your sports. There’s no way you haven’t heard about McClung putting on a show Saturday night in Salt Lake City. McClung, the recently signed/promoted two-way guard for the Sixers from their G-League affiliate Delaware Blue Coats, may have saved the dunk contest as many have said after his performance. While this one showing was really good… let’s not get carried away.
Mac McClung was able to steal the show by busting out a variety of different dunks. He wowed and surprised the curious crowd with how this G-Leaguer will stack up against the more well-known pros. I mean, c’mon — he has played in just two NBA games during his young career. Both in 2021 split between the Lakers and Bulls. There’s no way he’ll pull this off, right? Well… he had other ideas. From jumping over two people with one perched on the shoulders of the other while holding the basketball. Tapping the rock on the backboard and then completing the clean dunk in reverse. To what looked like a 560 flush that was once again clean. The 6-foot-2 guard simply found a way to bring some energy, enjoyment and most importantly eyes to an event that has been slowly fading in terms of importance.
The Blue Coats’ leading scorer has brought some good attention on himself. Landing a new sneaker deal with PUMA basketball. Winning $100,000 for taking the trophy and for the on-floor basketball part of things. He has many wondering why he isn’t playing for the Sixers. Good problems for him and the organization. While he may not actually see minutes for the big club, he brought good attention to the NBA, his team, and most importantly him. We’ll see where this takes him going forward.
As far as All-Star weekend and the Dunk Contest this has nothing to do with McClung. But everything to do with the league needing to figure out how to correct the problem.