“Reason Why Mac McClung Won”: Shaquille O’Neal Revealed What Set Dunk Champion Apart Before Back-to-Back Trophies

The G-League standout, Mac McClung is a back-to-back Slam Dunk winner – a title that’s sweeter with a boost from Shaq. The Slam Dunk Contest was the subject of criticism on The Big Podcast with Shaq before the event. Both Shaquille O’Neal and Julius Erving were critical of the major NBA stars skipping one of the most thrilling events of the weekend. However, Big Diesel had some words of appreciation for McClung, which also stayed true for this year’s Slam Dunk Contest.

This week’s edition of The Big Podcast brought up the 2023 Slam Dunk champ, Mac McClung. This was recorded before the All-Star Weekend. “The reason why Mac McClung won last year because he wants to be a competitor. He’s not in the NBA… yet and he wasn’t afraid of the competition,” Shaq said after Dr J alleged big-time NBA stars are afraid losing will damage their brand.

Considering Shaq hyped the 2023 Slam Dunk champ, it was special when McClung brought out his giant hypeman for the grand finale of the Dunk contest this time. He needed a 49.1 to win over Boston Celtics star, Jaylen Brown.

The Osceola Magic guard had Shaq dressed in a personalized jersey of his alma mater, Gate City High School with McClung’s name on the back and positioned him under the basket. He proceeded to spectacularly dunk over the 4x champion to score a perfect 50 across the board.

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McClung impressed at the 2024 All-Star Weekend. Apart from the Dunk contest, he was on Team Detlef for the Rising Stars Challenge. McClung and his squad of G-Leaguers dominated Victor Wembanyama and Team Pau to head to the finals. They fell just short of Team Jalen but the G-League players were the most impressive stars of the weekend. O’Neal and Erving were critical of NBA stars not bringing the same level of competitiveness McClung showed.

Shaq and Dr. J dismayed by the lack of All-Stars

Both legends alleged that the current class of NBA stars are “afraid of competition.” He said he started watching the dunk contest because of legends like Dr. J, then Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, followed by Vince Carter. However, no All-Star had participated in the dunk contest at least since 2018. This year, Brown was the only All-Star in the lineup. But viewers allege he played it safe.

Dr. J was harsher when he said, “Many people refuse to participate because their egos will not permit it.” While he claimed, “You don’t always get the best dunkers in the dunk contest,” he acknowledged Shaq’s comment on McClung.

Shaq implored McClung to be memorable. Given his participation to aid the youngster’s showmanship, McClung is living up to expectations as high as the man he dunked over.

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