Cavaliers, Herro, and McClung Take the All-Star Saturday Night Trophies
NBA All-Star Saturday Night is not likely to ever recapture the glamour of its glory years, an era from the 1980s to the early 2000s when Pantheon members Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant competed against other Hall of Famers. The first official Slam Dunk Contest took place at halftime of the 1976 ABA All-Star Game, and four of the five participants became Hall of Fame inductees: Julius Erving (the winner), David Thompson, George Gervin, and Artis Gilmore (the fifth participant was Larry Kenon, who made the All-Star team five times in his ABA/NBA career). Some fans may scoff at what they consider to be the pedestrian nature of some of those 1976 dunks, but keep in mind that no one at that time was thinking about jumping over props; rest assured that Erving and Thompson--both of whom had vertical leaps in excess of 40 inches--could have done any dunk that we have seen in the "modern" era: after all, Erving did his trademark free throw line dunk in games, which is more difficult and impressive than dunking over any prop.
Now, the NBA cannot beg, borrow, or steal enough money to induce the elite players to deign to participate in what is supposed to be one of the league's showcase events.
So, we have to settle for what we can get, because there is no point to living in the past or complaining too much about the present.
The highlight of the Skills Challenge was the San Antonio Spurs team of Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama being disqualified after trying to circumvent the rules; to shave seconds off of their time, the Spurs did not even attempt any shots during the shooting portion of the obstacle course, and just focused on the passing portion of the obstacle course, drawing boos from the crowd and a prompt disqualification from the officials. The Spurs' shenanigans are much like tanking and load management, odious practices that not only don't work but cheat the fans from seeing legit competition. You might say that what the Spurs did does not matter because few people care that much about the Skills Competition, but a major reason that people don't care about the Skills Competition--and care less about the NBA in general than they did before--is that the players' focus has shifted from trying to compete to trying to find shortcuts and excuses to not compete. Here is a novel idea: spend some time practicing the shots from the Skills Challenge--shots that could also be useful in real games--instead of trying to figure out how to win an event while exerting as little energy as possible.
Paul's career Skills Challenge resume--a record six appearances but no wins--now rivals his playoff resume, which includes the most blown 2-0 leads in NBA postseason history. Hopefully for Spurs fans, Paul is only teaching Wembanyama how to lose in the Skills Challenge and not how to lose 2-0 leads in the playoffs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the most pleasant surprises in the NBA this season, and their team--featuring Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley--won the Skills Challenge, defeating the Bay Area's home team, the Golden State Warriors (Draymond Green and Moses Moody).
Ten of the NBA's top 25 leaders in career three point field goal percentage are active players--including future Hall of Famers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson--but none of them participated in the Three Point Contest. Just one of the players who ranks in the top ten in three point field goal percentage this season--Cleveland's Darius Garland--participated in the Three Point Contest. In the first round, Golden State's Buddy Hield--who ranks 97th in three point field goal percentage this season, and 58th all-time--tied Stephen Curry's Three Point Contest record with 31 points. Two-time defending Three Point Contest champion Damian Lillard failed to advance. Garland and and the Miami Heat's Tyler Herro joined Hield in the final round. Herro set the bar with 24 points, Garland scored 19 points, and Hield fell just short with 23 points. This was Herro's first All-Star Weekend event win, and tomorrow he will make his first appearance in the All-Star Game (or games, depending how one prefers to describe the NBA's new format, colloquially known as the "Adam Silver begs, hopes, and pleads that at least a few NBA All-Stars will pretend to care" All-Star Game).
The Slam Dunk Contest lacked drama--the eventual winner was obvious immediately--but was yet another showcase for Mac McClung's surreal athleticism. The two-time defending Slam Dunk champion jumped over a car and executed a two-handed reverse dunk for his first dunk, setting a standard right from the jump (pun intended!) that the other competitors could not match. After McClung jumped over an assistant, grabbed the ball and did a spinning two-handed dunk for his second dunk, TNT's Kenny Smith said that the event should just be McClung doing five dunks with music playing in the background--an acknowledgment that this contest was no contest. McClung lived up to that praise by receiving a perfect score of 50 on all four of his dunks. McClung is the first "three-peat" winner in Slam Dunk Contest history. Nate Robinson is the only other three-time champion (2006, 2009, 2010).
Julius Erving--who not only won the 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest, but was runner
up (at age 34!) to Larry Nance in the 1984 NBA Slam Dunk
Contest--presented the Julius "Dr. J" Erving Slam Dunk Contest trophy to
McClung:
It would be interesting to see some of the NBA's All-Stars who are great leapers--Anthony Edwards comes to mind--challenge McClung, but don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
It is what it is, to borrow a (too often) used phrase, but we should not let those who did not appear cast too big of a shadow over those who did appear: congratulations to Mitchell/Mobley, Herro, and McClung for doing their best to put on a great show during All-Star Saturday night.
Labels: Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Mac McClung, NBA All-Star Weekend, Skills Challenge, Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Contest, Tyler Herro
posted by David Friedman @ 1:28 AM
Mac McClung Wins Second Consecutive NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Mac McClung stole the show in the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest, and he defended his title in 2024, prevailing over a field including three-time NBA All-Star Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr., and fellow G-Leaguer Jacob Toppin (brother of Obi Toppin, who won the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest after finishing second to Anfernee Simons in 2021). McClung is the first repeat Slam Dunk Contest winner since Zach LaVine in 2015-16. Other repeat winners include Michael Jordan (1987-88), Jason Richardson (2002-03), and Nate Robinson (2009-10). Robinson is the only three-time champion (he also won in 2006), while Dominique Wilkins (1985, 1990) and Harold Miner (1993, 1995) each won two non-consecutive Slam Dunk titles.
McClung had not played in an NBA regular season game prior to last
year's Slam Dunk Contest, and he has still only played in four NBA
regular season games (none this season). It has been a long time since the Slam Dunk Contest consistently attracted All-Star players, and those days seemingly are gone forever; the top players either don't want to bother with the event, or else they fear that not winning would somehow hurt their endorsement portfolio. It is sad that the best players don't want to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest, but this is just symptomatic of the larger problems of load management, tanking, and a generally lax attitude toward competition (which has completely infected the All-Star Game itself, turning a once prestigious showcase into a pathetic farce).
Read more »Labels: Jacob Toppin, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Jaylen Brown, Julius Erving, Mac McClung, Slam Dunk Contest
posted by David Friedman @ 12:43 AM
Mac McClung Wows Crowd, Wins Julius "Dr. J" Erving Slam Dunk Contest Trophy
The overall quality of the NBA's Slam Dunk Contest in recent years has been inconsistent at best, with too many missed dunks, too few stars participating, and too little imagination. The Slam Dunk Contest used to feature many of the sport's biggest stars, and the participants used to amaze fans with dunks that had never been seen before. While today's stars decline to participate, Julius Erving tested his mettle against young leapers as late as 1985, when he was 35 years old. Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins squared off in the Slam Dunk Contest in their prime years; they did not think that they were above the event, nor were their egos so sensitive that they worried that anything less than a first place finish would diminish their status.
The very concept of having an All-Star Weekend--as opposed to just having an All-Star Game--grew out of the popularity of the Slam Dunk Contest. The NBA built All-Star Weekend around the Slam Dunk Contest, augmenting that showcase event with other events such as the Three Point Contest and the Legends Game (which has since been replaced with a series of other events, as the risk of legends injuring themselves put an end to that particular event).
This year, a most improbable participant brought some luster back to the Slam Dunk Contest. Mac McClung has yet to play in an NBA game--he signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers last week--but he has become something of an internet sensation with the array of dunks he displayed while playing in the G-League. Listed at just 6-2, McClung scored a perfect 50 on his first NBA Slam Dunk Contest dunk, and he received 49.8 on his second dunk to advance to the final round, where he faced off against Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans. In the final round, McClung racked up two more perfect 50s, ending the night--and the contest--with a 540 degree spinning dunk while wearing his high school jersey. McClung looked into the camera and noted, "It's over," and he was right.
The NBA has been naming and renaming many of its awards and honors, including the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP, the Michael Jordan NBA regular season MVP, and the Kobe Bryant All-Star Game MVP. Now, the Slam Dunk Contest trophy has been named in Julius Erving's honor.
Julius "Dr. J" Erving proudly displaying the Julius "Dr. J" Erving Slam Dunk Contest trophy before the start of the 2023 NBA Slam Dunk Contest
The Julius "Dr. J" Erving Slam Dunk Contest trophy includes a depiction of a stethoscope in honor of Erving's "Dr. J" nickname, and it displays imagery connected with three of his iconic dunks: his 1976 ABA Slam Dunk Contest free throw line dunk, one of his dunks over Bill Walton in the 1977 NBA Finals, and his "Rock the Baby" dunk over Michael Cooper. The trophy also honors Erving's two NBA All-Star Game MVPs (1977, 1983), and his three ABA regular season MVPs (1974-76; he shared the 1975 award with George McGinnis). It is wonderful--and long overdue--that the NBA is acknowledging some of Erving's ABA accomplishments and awards. I understand why the trophy shows jersey #32 next to his three ABA MVPs--he wore #32 in the ABA--but it would have been even more fitting to correctly label Erving a four-time MVP, as he also won the 1981 NBA regular season MVP. Erving is the only player who won the regular season MVP in both leagues, and he is the only non-center to win the NBA regular season MVP between Oscar Robertson (1964) and Larry Bird (1984).
Erving presented the Julius "Dr. J" Erving Slam Dunk Contest trophy to McClung:
It was fitting to see a former 76er present the award to a current 76er, and it was inspiring to see a player who has not even played in an NBA game perform with such poise under the bright lights of NBA All-Star Weekend.
Erving is the perfect choice for the NBA Slam Dunk Contest trophy, and
it is great that the trophy clearly notes that Erving was much more than
just an exciting dunker. I would just add that if the NBA ever creates a
trophy honoring members of the 30,000 Point Club
then Erving would be a great choice for that trophy as well, because he
was the first "midsize" player to join a club that previously had been
the exclusive province of two of the sport's greatest big men: Wilt Chamberlain
and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Much like Erving paved the way for "midsize" players to win NBA regular season MVPs, he also paved the way for "midsize" players to crack the 30,000 point barrier that had previously eluded Pantheon players, including Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Oscar Robertson.
Labels: ABA MVP, Julius Erving, Mac McClung, Philadelphia 76ers, Slam Dunk Contest
posted by David Friedman @ 12:26 AM
