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NBA G-League champion Mac McClung won his second consecutive Slam Dunk Contest after narrowly beating Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown by one point.
For his winning dunk, McClung jumped over 7ft 1ins Shaquille O’Neal after asking the Hall of Famer to squeeze into his old high school jersey.
McClung then took the ball out of the giant’s hands to hammer home a reverse dunk. That earned him a perfect score in the final round of the event.
McClung finished with 98.8 points on his final two dunks and became the sixth player to win the contest twice and the first to do it in back-to-back seasons since Zach LaVine in 2015 and 2016.
‘Shaq was so cool to put my high school jersey on man,’ McClung said during a press conference after All-Star Saturday was completed.
‘It almost makes you emotional that he would do that. But I told him: “Would you put it on?” and he said: “You better not miss a dunk,” and I was like: “Alright I won’t miss it.”‘
MAC MCCLUNG OVER SHAQ.50-PIECE. pic.twitter.com/VHvcOZdRCI
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 18, 2024 
NBA G-League champion Mac McClung won his second consecutive Slam Dunk Contest
McClung finished a reverse dunk over Shaquille O’Neal on his last attempt to win the event
Shaq told Mac he better not miss the dunk after Shaq agreed to wear his high school jersey 🤣 pic.twitter.com/wJvrV48Vcz
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2024
The G-League star was in need something special to win the judges over after Brown had jumped over Cleveland Cavaliers superstar Donovan Mitchell, while wearing a sequin glove on his left hands to troll fans who say the Celtics wing can’t go left when he has the ball.
Earlier, Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. also jumped over O’Neal for his first dunk of the night. But he did not advance to the final round of the compeтιтion.
Jacob Toppin of the New York Knicks, who has primarily played for the team’s G-League affiliate the Westchester Knicks, was eliminated in the first round.
He beat out Boston Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown in the final to win his second dunk contest
Jaquez scored 47.4 and 46.8 on his two dunks, while Toppin received scores of 47.8 and 47.2.
The 25-year-old McClung has not been able to stick on an NBA roster despite his success in back-to-back dunk contests.
He has played in four games NBA games in his career, one with the Chicago Bulls and one with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season, and two with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2022-23 season.
Prior to this season, McClung was released by the Orlando Magic. He has played in 14 games for the Osceola Magic franchise and is averaging 23.7 points and 7.2 ᴀssists.
