NBA ALL-STAR SLAM DUNK

February 18, 2023

Mac McClung

Press Conference

Q. Just talk about the emotions you are going through right now winning this Slam Dunk Contest.

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah, just a lot of gratitude. It's really a blur, to be honest with you. Probably a lot of stuff has happened on the internet and everything. I haven't checked.

Really just grateful. I had a lot of help. It wasn't just me. I had Chuck (Millan) and my best friends calling me every night trying to give me ideas. It was a lot of fun out there.

Q. Coming into this there was casual sports fans, casual NBA fans wondering who is this guy? You kind of ended up stealing the show, won over the entire arena, I'm sure won a lot of the audience back home watching it on the television. Was that a motivating factor at all: You may not know me going into the night, but by the night is over, you will?

MAC MCCLUNG: Not really, to be honest. I think my situation, I'm not really worried what other people think, good or bad. I'm just staying the course. My goal is to make an impact in the NBA, and I'm just going to keep working until that happens.

Q. Mac, you winning this Dunk Contest is like the ultimate underdog story. What is it about that that feels so good for us as fans and as well as yourself, and why does it fit you and your personality so perfectly?

MAC MCCLUNG: I don't know. It kind of feels ever since the beginning I was the underdog, even when I was younger.

Yeah, just like I was saying, just kind of proving yourself right and not others wrong brings a little more satisfaction. So I just kind of look at it that way.

Q. Who were some of your dunk idols growing up? What were some of your favorite dunks in the NBA contest growing up?

MAC MCCLUNG: I loved Vince Carter. Just watching that. The Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon Dunk Contest was something I enjoyed so much. I was, like, man, if I get to be a part of this one day, I hope to make an impact like those guys. I got a lot of inspiration from them.

Q. Before the contest, you said you would do two never-before-seen dunks. What went into your research in making sure nobody had ever performed those two dunks?

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah. I think just a lot of research with my friends. We would just look at professional dunkers as well as the NBA Dunk Contest because we just wanted to try to make something up that we haven't seen before.

The first dunk I haven't seen before, so hopefully it's not out there.

Q. How do you manage all the pressure? You looked really confident.

MAC MCCLUNG: I think just getting that first dunk down is a lot of the pressure off. I heard the crowd kind of for me. That just kind of gave me a lot of confidence.

Q. Mac, when you ripped the final dunk and then you kind of put it across your chest like it's over, can you describe sort of the emotion of that moment and if you had thought for sure that you had won by that point?

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah, I think something took over me. I don't know what that was. But I wasn't really even thinking in the moment. It was just kind of something that happened, to be honest with you.

Q. I think you did a 540 in there. Is 720 a dunk in your package, and how many dunks did you kind of work on heading into this before you confidently brought it in?

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah, Chuck and I had about eight dunks we were trying to decide between. I left out about four of them, so I kept in the stash. We were just balancing the situation and what the other scores were.

Q. What would you say to all the teammates from the G League and everybody that follows the G League?

MAC MCCLUNG: I'm super grateful for this opportunity. I think a lot of guys in the G League probably deserve this light that I just got. I'm very appreciative and I hope I represented well for them, and I really appreciate the NBA giving us this opportunity.

Q. How many dunks did you have in the pocket, like you knew you would go through? How long did it take you to prepare, and which one gave you the most problems?

MAC MCCLUNG: To be honest, the 540 at the end, I didn't make it at all yesterday. I was like, I'm going to save this for last. If I have made all my dunks, I know I have a little confidence. I had about four that I didn't use. We were deciding between eight.

Q. You just became a household name. Has this sunk in yet, one? Then, two, how big is it for you to know that you have actually saved the Dunk Contest?

MAC MCCLUNG: Oh, man, I don't know if that's true. I appreciate you saying that.

Q. It's true.

MAC MCCLUNG: (Laughing) Just a lot of gratitude. I had so much help with this with Chuck and Chase (Skinkis) and all my friends. A lot of it was their help, to be honest with you.

Q. Mac, everyone kind of knows your story. Texas Tech, Georgetown, the G League. You haven't even played for the 76ers yet, I don't think. Do you have any idea what this moment can mean for your brand? That stuff does matter. I know you want to get to the league and establish yourself in the league, but I'm certain your phone has absolutely exploded this evening. Do you have any idea what this moment is going to do for you?

MAC MCCLUNG: I don't think I do yet. It's all been a blur. It felt like it was just 30 seconds we were out there, and now we're here. No, I haven't been around my phone or anything, but I'm super happy. I was going to tell them, this is for my little brother, Cam. He gave me a lot of inspiration for the contest.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the guys you jumped over in the first round? Again, your third dunk, who those guys were. Then tell us about the inspiration for the high school Jersey.

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah, so the one guy was Chase with Team Flight Brothers. He is one of the guys. Him and Chuck really helped me out with the ideas.

The other guy was my best friend, Bradley Dean, from high school. He was the one throwing me all the lobs in the YouTube videos. It meant the world to have him out here.

Being from a small town, a city of 1,600 people, and now we're on this stage, it was just unbelievable.

Q. Congratulations. Did you know that on your first dunk people would not realize right away that you touched the glass after the jump? Was that part of the thought when you did that dunk, or you expected everyone to see it right away?

MAC MCCLUNG: That's I was banking on, the slow-motion video. I knew it would be hard to see, but I'm glad everybody saw it after the slo-mo.

Q. Mac, I want to find out, is your talent hereditary? Is there anybody in your family that did those kind of things that inspired you?

MAC MCCLUNG: My dad. He says he did. I've never seen it personally, but he always told me he had more bounce than me (laughing).

Q. Mac, after you won, you said you would do it again if they invited you. This is an opportunity. Is there anyone you would like to challenge to join you in next year's contest? Don't be shy.

MAC MCCLUNG: Man, whoever wants to. I'm a big believer in doing whatever you want to do, and whoever wants to come, I'm happy to do it with them.

Q. As you said, you had eight dunks prepared. How spontaneous did you choose what you showed us tonight and what you maybe saved for next year?

MAC MCCLUNG: Yeah, no, I would just look at Chuck after. You know, what dunk should I go to? I probably would know after probably the guy before me gets done. While he was going, I just had the idea let's do this one.

Q. When you get back in the lab and you start working on your game again, what are some of the things that you know you're going to have to improve on to get to the NBA level? What was it like out there seeing Dr. J out there while are you doing these incredible dunks tonight?

MAC MCCLUNG: It was super cool. He is a big inspiration to me. I think -- it's funny, when I go to chill out, I don't even dunk. I haven't dunked in so long. And then I got the call. I was like, well, I better get to work, and we got to work.

Everything. I know it's hard to judge G League, but if you look at my stats, I'm an overall player. I'm a point guard. I'm scrappy on defense. My shot, I feel like has been really good this year. I just work on everything I can. Film is really big to me. Just the study of everything, kind of growing that.

Q. What does it take to be successful in life?

MAC MCCLUNG: It's tough. You know, I think the biggest thing is, it's a cliche, but you can really do whatever you want to do. I've had so many people even at the highest level -- like, if you are a young kid, and someone who is, like, an inspiration to you, someone that you respect so much tells you you can't do it, it doesn't matter.

Literally, if you manifest and put your mind to it, you can literally make your life and reinvent yourself every day.

Q. Mac, how tough was it to come up with creative dunks, knowing how many dunks we've already seen in past dunk contests and everything? How tough was it to create original, unique dunks that fans hadn't seen before?

MAC MCCLUNG: It's tough, man. I think my friends Zach Irvine and Bradley Dean were so tired of me calling them at night, sending them videos, hey, what do you think about this dunk, what do you think about this dunk? Every five minutes.

It was a lot of fun, at the same time being creative and trying to figure some things out. It was a little bit of both and a little fun and stress to it.

Thank you, guys, so much. Appreciate it.