Saturday’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest was won by 25-year-old Mac McClung for the second year in a row. McClung was exceptional with some extremely creative dunks to win the competition over Jaylen Brown, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Jacob Toppin.
McClung’s victory was deserved but the 2024 Slam Dunk Contest failed to reach the high of previous years where NBA legends like Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Dee Brown provided innovative and unique slams.
Another aspect of the contest that was heavily criticised was the performance of the judges. Gary Payton, Mitch Richmond, Dominique Wilkins, Fred Jones and Darnell Hillman were assigned with the task of judging the contest but some erratic scoring seemed to throw off the fans.
During the broadcast, commentator Ernie Johnson noted that the judges were receiving some flak from the crowd, a statement Kenny Smith was wholeheartedly in agreement with.
“Deservedly…Gary Payton is a hater by nature, anyway. Dominique still probably thinks he should dunk. I don’t know what Darnell Tillman is thinking about,” said Smith.
Smith may have got Hillman’s name wrong but his point was crystal clear after the judges put up some uneven scores for the contestants.
Kenny Smith: Gary Payton is a hater by nature, anyway…Dominique still probably thinks he should dunk. I don't know what Darnell Tillman is thinking about.
Reggie Miller: HILLMAN, not Tillman.
Been that kind of night for the All-Star Saturday Night broadcast. pic.twitter.com/0yKNjhxe77
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 18, 2024
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was gifting Boston Celtics’ guard Jaylen Brown a 48.8 score for a routine pump and windmill dunk. That was followed by a 48.6 score for his standard 360 windmill that was not special or outstanding.
Even reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid was unhappy with the scoring and made it a point to post a message on X: “I’m a professional hater but I’m not hating when I say I could win the dunk contest with these scores but not sure the knees would allow it lmao.”
In the end, the right man went on to win the contest with Mac McClung earning his second Dunk Contest victory. He is now just one shy of Nate Robinson who won the event on three occasions.
