The Magic may not have sent an All-Star to San Francisco this weekend, but the winner of the 2025 Slam Dunk Contest wore an Orlando Magic jersey. While Mac McClung has only played one game with the Orlando Magic this season, he is playing well for the Osceola Magic in the G League, who are currently sitting in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
During the Slam Dunk Contest, it did not matter that McClung was the only G League player, however. He beat NBA youngsters Andre Jackson Jr., Matas Buzelis, and Stephon Castle, even though the latter put up a solid performance until the very end. It was not enough to take the victory from McClung, who jumped over a car to open the contest, dunked two balls on his third attempt, and cleared Cleveland Cavaliers big Evan Mobley, though.
McClung made history with his performance at the All-Star Weekend, becoming only the second player in league history to win three dunk contest titles and the first one to do it in three consecutive years.
NBA All-Star Weekend may see some changes soon
While McClung has not found his footing in the NBA quite yet, he has brought some much-needed life back into the All-Star Weekend and the Dunk Contest. In recent years, the Dunk Contest has been defined by an absence of NBA stars. Jaylen Brown, who competed in 2024, is the only All-Star to take part in the event recently. What was once a star-studded affair is now an event featuring young NBA players looking to make a name for themselves.
The arrangement worked out well for McClung, who put his name in the NBA history books without playing much yet, but it has not been good for the NBA, as fans continue to lament that players do not care enough about the All-Star Weekend.
Maybe that will change soon, though. Victor Wembanyama is an All-Star for the first time this year and, trying to win after being visibly upset that his teammates did not take the Skils Challenge seriously last year, came up with a rather interesting strategy—flinging balls as fast as possible rather than actually shooting them. It eventuallygot him and Chris Paul disqualified, probably rightfully so since they were trying to find a way to get around actually competing. Still, it is nice to see a young player care about winning. Hopefully, he will care just as much about the actual All-Star Game and bring back a sense of competitiveness.
McClung’s performance this year may also bring some big names back to the Dunk Contest. Ja Morant tweeted, “mac might make me decide to dunk”, and Giannis Antetokounmpo responded that he would join the contest if Morant did.
If you do it. I’ll do it with you 💯 https://t.co/dsKglTiTca
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 16, 2025
Morant is one of the most electric dunkers in the game right now, and Antetokounmpo is one of the league’s biggest stars. If they compete in the Dunk Contest, it may convince other stars to do the same.
If not, the NBA should make sure McClung returns in 2026 and puts on a show again.