Who is Mac McClung, the champion of the Slam Dunk Contest who just changed his life thanks to the NBA All-Star 2023?

From a player who played only 2 NBA games in the past 3 years to the name that LeBron James also had to mention when he called "one of the best Slam Dunk Contest contestants in history".

That person is Mac McClung, the champion of the Slam Dunk Contest of the NBA All-Star 2023 series of events that ended on Monday.

The 1m88 defender who just signed with the Philadelphia 76ers right before the All-Star brought Utah 4 beautiful dunks, constantly making viewers jump from their seats. Three of his four dunks scored a perfect 50, the other phase scored 49.8.

Thanks to this impressive performance, Mac McClung is considered by many to have successfully "revived" the Slam Dunk Contest, an event that has gradually become boring in the past few years at the NBA All-Star.

But not only suddenly famous, McClung also pocketed a small bonus. The Boardroom site notes that the 76ers defender brought in $100,000 by winning the Slam Dunk Contest.

This award alone is nearly equal to Mac McClung's total income from basketball over the past 2 years ($106,352).

So who is Mac McClung? Why are you the only G-League player in history to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2023? Below is the information about this player.

Mac McClung was born on January 6, 1999, is 1m88 tall and is currently on the payroll of the Philadelphia 76ers under a parallel contract between the NBA and the G-League. Before appearing at the 2023 All-Star week, McClung wore the Delaware Blue Coats (the 76ers' G-League team) from October 2022.

Going further into the past, Mac started his professional career by not being selected in the 2021 NBA Draft. He was later signed to train and play for the Los Angeles Lakers in the Summer League that same year.

During the 2021-22 season, McClung repeatedly moved from the South Bay Lakers (the G-League team of the LA Lakers) to the Windy City Bulls (the G-League team of the Chicago Bulls) and then back to Los Angeles.

Although not stable in color, Mac McClung is extremely stable in form. He regularly has over 20 points per game and won the title of Rookie of the Year of the NBA G-League season 2021-22.

Early in the 2022-23 season, there were hopes that Mac was about to join the Golden State Warriors first team, but all that stopped in the Summer League. After that, he signed a G-League contract with Delaware Blue Coats and stayed until early February.

When invited, McClung immediately accepted to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest 2023, becoming the first G-League player to participate in this annual dunk contest. Three days before playing at All-Star week, Mac McClung was signed by Philadelphia to a two-way contract, officially placing him in the Sixers' first team.

Having a G-League player invited to the Slam Dunk Contest is unprecedented in NBA All-Star history. It is still not clear why the league decided to do this, only rumors that BTC could not find a quality contestant in the NBA and was forced to call Mac McClung's name.

Although he does not have much experience in the NBA (only appearing twice in his career up to now), Mac McClung is quite famous in the American community of basketball enthusiasts.

Despite his short height, McClung was able to slam dunks in his senior years of middle school before becoming a famous "dunker" in high school, playing for Gate City High School, Virginia.

CBS statistics show that Mac McClung has more than 820,000 followers on Instagram before entering the All-Star 2023, more than double the total followers of all three Slam Dunk Contest contestants (Trey Murphy III, Jericho Sims and Kenyon Martin) Jr.) combined.

All-Star 2023 isn't McClung's first slam dunk. He previously caused a nationwide fever when he won the Ball Is Life All-American Dunk Contest in 2018, defeating Kevin Porter Jr (now playing for the Houston Rockets) and Shareef O'Neal, son of the legendary Shaquille O 'Neal.

But dunk alone is not enough to turn Mac McClung into an NBA player with a consistent number of minutes.

During college, McClung struggled to play for two different teams (including Georgetown and Texas Tech) for three years. As a result, he was not selected in the 2021 NBA Draft and had to accept to play in the G-League. to nurture the NBA dream.

Despite having a fairly stable index in the South Bay Lakers shirt with more than 20 points per game, McClung could not make it into the Los Angeles Lakers squad due to the team that just brought in Russell Westbrook, plus many other problems.

This season, Mac McClung was signed to a G-League contract with Delaware Blue Coats. This is where he really changed to improve his performance in the first team.

In addition to scoring, the 1m88-tall defender is more developed in assists and rebounds. This impressed enough for the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff and McClung was signed to a two-way contract, allowing him to be called up to the first team for the rest of the Regular Season.

As mentioned above, Mac McClung pocketed $100,000 in prize money for winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In just one evening, he almost doubled his total career earnings.

However, things do not stop here. Signing a two-way contract until the end of the season with the Philadelphia 76ers will bring MacClung another bonus, more than three times what he earned in the G-League.

It is impossible to ignore the shoe advertising contract that McClung just signed with PUMA just before the NBA All-Star 2023. He competed in the Slam Dunk Contest with a striking red and orange PUMA Rise Nitro pair.

According to Boardroom estimates, the total income of the Slam Dunk Contest champion in the 2022-23 season will be more than $500,000.

Thus, within 4 days, McClung went from G-League to NBA, pocketed a shoe contract with PUMA and won the Slam Dunk Contest, becoming a phenomenon on social networks. Currently, the number of followers of this player on Instagram has increased by one and a half times.

Experts predict that Mac McClung can make even more money in the future by combining with brands and advertising on his personal page.

After causing a fever at the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Mac McClung will return to reality, competing for both the G-League team and the NBA team of the 76ers. The push from the 2023 All-Star will provide an opportunity for McClung, but he needs to save the opportunity and play effectively to maintain the minutes.

In terms of income, the 24-year-old defender will certainly be "warm" with $ 100,000 in prize money and also signed a shoe promotion contract with PUMA, the brand that accompanied McClung when he was crashing the Slam Dunk Contest in Utah.

Another point to note is that Mac has confirmed that he will take part in next year's dunk contest if invited. There, he can create a dream competition with Zion Williamson, who has just shared that he will seriously consider attending the NBA All-Star 2024.