Originality was missing. Neither huge wings or springs, nor the most embellished bodywork that a vehicle could wish for, nor a famous father… The one who was capable of dazzling with things never seen before is the one who has the advantage gained in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest for some time now, giving the same other attributes, and it was demonstrated again in Salt Lake City. A white guy, 1.88 meters tall, wearing a bandage on one of his hands and looking more like a user than a pilot, dazzled everyone. So much so that they were only able to return home when Mac McClung, which is the name of this new idol of the masses of the best basketball league in the world, confirmed that next year they would have a new helping of impossible flights.
Those who accompanied him at this year’s event were left far behind. jericho simsof the Knicks, made two impressive vertical jumps but without more party. kenyon martinfrom the Rockets, had the power that he exhibits in the games, and even the visit of his senior to give his repertoire a plus, but he did not convince the jury either.
Trey Murphy, who could have participated in the triples or the dunks because he is a paragon of virtues, is the one who came closest to gold. The Pelicans player came within a point, which was left to give Lisa Leslie, 50 on the second attempt of the first round. A double rectification in the air to deceive the viewer. It’s the closest he got to McClung. In the final he only showed his long arms and his elegant staging, without that extra that his rival did have.
The debate is served: should non-NBA players be invited to this contest? The G-League, the development league, is on that fine line that might avoid suspicion. That’s where Mac McClung came from to save the night. When he was announced to participate he belonged exclusively to the secondary competition of the NBA. The most pure would not have let him participate. Between the announcement and the appointment he signed a dual contract with the 76ers that put him in a different position, even though the bottom line is the same. But it’s the same! That we don’t get lost in bureaucratic issues or we’re going to stop seeing shows like this. This 24-year-old boy, educated in Virginia (which he honored with a T-shirt in one of the dunks), had warned that he had at least two never-before-seen proposals. He complied. His entry into the contest was a fifty by jumping two people, one on the shoulders of the other, and catching the ball to smash it against the backboard and then dunking from behind with two hands. Very creative. Only in his second mate did he avoid the full total in the contest.
The two executions in the final were impeccable. A combination of strength and ingenuity to stay in the air with his height and execute cleanly. Mastery, sustained force, head and confetti. In the final with Murphy he knocked it out of the way with two impressive shots: on a bottom-up dunk he faked twice while flying; in the next one, also running from the right side of the field, he did a turn and a half in the air.