NBA ALL-STAR SLAM DUNK

February 17, 2024

Mac McClung

Press Conference

Q. Congratulations on the win. Sorry for starting off with this question, but do you think that especially from today with -- after what you proved today, do you think that more than ever you deserve more opportunities in the NBA?

MAC McCLUNG: There's so many people that came at me before this, like, oh, man, you should be mad. You want to be in the NBA. You deserve to be in the NBA. And I do believe I do.

But I also think this is my human experience, and I think it's my human experience for a reason because, without this grind and struggle, I probably wouldn't be able to impact like I do and have been lucky enough to do things like this.

So this is my story, and I've really embraced it. I'm going to keep fighting. I'm not going to quit no matter any other outcome.

Q. In the last dunk, the dunk over Shaq, did you have that one planned? Did you have that one in your bag coming in? Or did you see Jaylen score and say I have to do something special and did something on the fly? Where did that dunk come from?

MAC McCLUNG: That was the backup option. The other one was a little better maybe. I won't tell that one. I know Chuck (Millan) is probably mad I didn't use the other one.

No, Shaq is so cool to put on my high school jersey. Makes me emotional that he did that.

When he put it on, he said, You better not miss a dunk. And I was like, All right, I won't miss it.

Q. You talk about your human experience. Last year you were the first G League player to ever do this. This year it's you and Jacob Toppin. How important is it to showcase the talent the G League has and your capabilities?

MAC McCLUNG: That's incredible they're doing that and letting us be a part of this and get our names out there. Yeah, it's been great, and it's a really cool thing they're doing.

Q. Mac, from your legendary slam dunks in high school to being a back-to-back Dunk Contest champion, what does that mean to you?

MAC McCLUNG: I'm trying to sit with it right now and take a second and understand what's going on. I feel like life is so fast sometimes, it's just I'll look back in 20 years when I can't jump anymore and not as quick. But I know I'm a lucky dude. That's about it right now.

Q. Knowing that you needed a high score on your final dunk attempt, what was your mindset going into that final dunk attempt? Also, was having Shaq wear that jersey have anything to do with Shaq's jersey having been recently retired by the Magic?

MAC McCLUNG: Yeah, that was a shout-out to my hometown again. That's what I did last year. I wanted to build on it. Really the thought I was thinking was don't miss the dunk. Like, I can't miss a dunk. I don't usually miss.

I think I had room for improvement, and I knew I had a better set than I showed. But I'm glad the outcome happened the way it did.

Q. I just want to go back to Shaq wearing your jersey. Have you taken a moment to realize Shaquille O'Neal was wearing your high school jersey tonight? Has that part set into you yet?

MAC McCLUNG: What a cool guy to do that, man. What a great guy to do that for myself and my hometown. I think that just shows who he is now. Just really cool of him.

Q. No one ever won this contest three times. Are you coming back next year?

MAC McCLUNG: I think Nate Robinson did. Didn't Nate Robinson win three times? I don't know. We'll think about it. I'm not sure yet. I'll think about it. (Nate Robinson has won the Slam Dunk contest a record three times -- 2006, 2009 and 2010.)

Q. How did it fit on Shaq? How is that possible that your high school jersey fit on Shaq, number one? Number two, did you get a sense tonight that the judges were being pretty tight, that you had to do something spectacular? Is that kind of part of the impetus for that? Did you go through this thinking after every dunk, whoa, that's all I got on that? Did you feel you had to raise the level to match what they were looking for?

MAC McCLUNG: No, it was preparation. I told my parents the idea, and they hopped on it maybe five, six weeks ago.

No, I was. Seeing some of the guys do dunks, and I was like, oh, wow. I got done with my first dunk, and it was okay, you've got to really bring something. I think they wanted us to make our dunk on the first try, which I completely understand. I knew it was time to lock in the finals.

Q. How special was this weekend for you, and how honored are you to be able to represent the Orlando Magic organization at an event like this?

MAC McCLUNG: It's so cool, man. I think that -- like you said, I just feel lucky, man. I don't know how to really explain it. I've really enjoyed this organization. The GMs from top to bottom have been incredible and so hands on.

Shout-out to K.T. (Kevin Tiller II) and Trent (Pennington) and Ade (Adetunji Adedipe) and Mark (Mahoney) for all coming here. They sent such a big staff just to help me, and I'm very appreciative of that.

Q. It's hard enough to come up with enough dunks to win one contest, let alone two. What was your creative kind of structure like for this one and coming up with creative enough dunks that we maybe haven't seen before?

MAC McCLUNG: Yeah, just a lot of thinking. I don't think I've worked so diligently on something so far away for a long time. I can't lie to you and be like, oh, man, I just came up -- it took a long time. I used Chuck a lot, and I used my best friends. Probably tired of me calling them at night. I was sending them videos every other day: What do you think about this one? Is this good enough? They're like, Yeah, it's good enough; I'm going to bed.

Probably just bothering my friends and bothering Chuck and having a creative time with it. It was fun at the end of the day.

Q. Jaylen Brown was the first All-Star in six years to do the Dunk Contest, and fans have been kind of upset in the most recent years about that. Is there anyone in particular that you kind of wish would enter the Dunk Contest that you could compete against?

MAC McCLUNG: Not really, no. I think Jaylen Brown did it because he wanted to. I thought that was really cool of him and speaks on his character. But I think you want people that want to do it, that want to win. That's the biggest thing. I think Jaylen coming was a really great thing for the contest.