G-League star Mac McClung’s three-peat as slam dunk champion at the NBA All-Star weekend on Saturday may actually bring back stars to competition. But even before McClung joined the rarified air as the Association’s best dunker, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant posted on X: “Mac might make me decide to dunk.”
Morant also called on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Aaron Gordon, and two-time dunk champion Zach LaVine. Antetokounmpo immediately reacted and reponded to Morant in kind: “If you do it. I’ll do it with you,” per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
3-Time NBA Slam Dunk Winner’s Dominance May Convince 3 Star Players to Return to Competition
McClung was once again dazzled on Saturday night at the Chase Center. He became the first player to win three straight NBA Slam Dunk crowns and joined Nate Robinson as the only players to win three titles.
McClung, who plays for the Osceola Magic, fended off San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle in the event’s final. He matched Gordon as the only player to score a 50 on all four of his dunks. McClung defeated Castle by the slimmest of margins ( .4 points), as the UConn product scored 49.6 and a 50 on his two dunks in the finals. It was the closest dunk contest since Derrick Jones Jr. upset Gordon in a two-dunk playoff in 2020.
“That’s definitely not for me to say,” McClung said in response to whether he was the greatest dunker. “The biggest thing is, I genuinely love this contest.”
Will Ja Morant Be Among the 2026 NBA Dunk Contest Participants?
So, who will be in the 2026 NBA Dunk Contest at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles? Well, who knows right now, as the participants aren’t usually announced until the days before the event, which will be February 13-15 next year.
Boston’s Jaylen Brown, who lost in the 2024 finals to McClung, is the biggest name to participate in the last two years and probably since Gordon last participated. So, it would be something if Morant and Antetokounmpo are in the event next season. If those two participate next year, it would automatically make the event the most anticipated contest since 2020, when Dwight Howard and Pat Connaughton also entered.
Morant is a high-flyer, though he has never participated in the dunk contest. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo finished dead last with a score of 65, the only time he entered the event in 2015. That was the same year LaVine won the first of two straight titles.
For his part, LaVine said he may also have to consider taking part earlier this afternoon: “Thinking I might have too again….” The newly minted Sacramento Kings guard has scored perfectly on seven of his 10 career dunks in two contests. He recorded five scores of 50 in the 2016 event when he defeated Gordon in the bonus round.
“I’m flattered. I think those guys are so fun to watch,” McClung responded when asked about being potentially responsible for getting more stars back in the event. “I think people want to see bigger stars in it, and I would love to see that. But I think it’s important for the people in it to want to do it.”
The bigger question is, will McClung defend his title yet again?
“I was probably thinking about hanging it up after this one, ” McClung added, “but I never want to say never.”
Photo Courtesy:© Petre Thomas Imagine Images
