He’s returning to NBA All-Star Weekend - But Mac McClung won’t be dunking this year

For the last three years, the NBA All-Star weekend has been a key date in Mac McClung’s diary but the Windy City Bulls guard - the only player to have won the Slam Dunk Contest three years in a row, won’t be defending his crown at this year’s event in Inglewood.

McClung posted an almost perfect score to win his first dunk contest at the 2023 All-Star weekend, then pipped Jaylen Brown to retain his crown the following year in Indianapolis. Last year, he won for a record third time - leaping high over a car and three people to become the only player in history to score a perfect 50 in all of his four dunk attempts.

No chance of a fourth title for McClung

But last month, the 27-year-old announced that he wouldn’t be taking part in this year’s contest. His father confirmed the decision on social media. “Not going to be 4 in a row,” Marcus McClung wrote. “Not one reason that I could say that was the main reason. In my opinion it is more like a bunch of reasons that just pointed to him not doing it.”

While no specific reason has been given for Mac to opt out, it is believed that he is keen to focus on his all-round game with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he signed a two-way contract on trade deadline day. In an interview with ESPN, McClung admitted that he was unsure whether he had come up with any innovative new moves that might help him to retain his slam dunk title.

Instead, there will be a new winner in the 2026 contest. Carter Bryant (San Antonio Spurs), Jaxson Hayes (Los Angeles Lakers), Keshad Johnson (Miami Heat) and Jase Richardson (Orlando Magic) will be going head to head with their most acrobatic dunks at the Intuit Dome on Saturday - the contest getting underway at 5 p.m. ET.

Called up for Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge

But even though he has passed up on taking part in the Slam Dunk competition, by a stroke of luck, McClung will still be at the All-Star. He was called up at the last minute to stand in for David Jones Garcia with Team Austin. The San Antonio Spurs guard has been ruled out after suffering an ankle injury. Team Austin face Team Melo in Game 1 of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday.

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