At a certain point on Saturday night, you couldn't help feel bad for Trey Murphy III.
The New Orleans small forward had some seriously impressive moves up his sleeve for NBA All-Star Saturday — but Mac McClung was too tough an act to follow.
The 76ers' fresh-faced point guard (who was just called up from the G League this week) was the undisputed star of the night. In every round of the dunk contest in Salt Lake City, McClung bungeed his 6'2" frame up to the net with flourish.
Now there's talk he has rescued the competition that was starting to fall out of favor.
Showstopping. 🎬
It's the 2023 #ATTSlamDunk contest champion Mac McClung Mixtape#StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/c2ClPqNO77
— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023
Who is he? A crowd of basketball celebrities quickly became his hype crew on the sidelines, filming him with sponsored phones and almost dropping their own kids a few times. For his already-established fanbase, the dunk contest just told the world what they've known for years.
McClung is a YouTube sensation, going all the way back to high school highlight reels. His "senior year mixtape" has more than three million views.
To pay tribute to his hometown of Gate City, Virginia (and the fans who have loved him since), he pulled on his high school jersey for the final dunk.
In college, he played for Georgetown for two years before transferring to Texas Tech.
He went undrafted in 2021 and joined the Lakers' summer league, signing with the team after that.
He moved to the Chicago Bulls for a short contract the next year, eventually ending up in the NBA G League with the Bulls' affiliate, Windy City. When invited to the dunk contest this year, he was part of the Delaware Blue Coats for the 2022-23 season, making him the first G League player to participate.
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