2023 NBA Dunk Contest results: Mac McClung steals show at All-Star weekend; Damian Lillard wins 3-point

Team Jazz also took home the crown in the Skills Competition

NBA All-Star weekend continued on Saturday night in Salt Lake City and the players who took the floor did not disappoint as they provided a number of highlights and impressive performances over the course of the night's three events, the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest.

The night got started with the Skills Challenge which Team Jazz ultimately won after three rounds of competition. Next, came the 3-Point Shootout which Lillard ultimately took the title in, making him the first Trail Blazers player to claim the 3-point crown. The night ends with the Dunk Contest. In the end, in what has always been the main event of the evening, newly signed Philadelphia 76ers guard Mac McClung tore the house down on his way to an impressive victory over the Pelicans' Trey Murphy III in the finals. 

• Skills Challenge: Team Jazz (Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton) wins with 300 total points
  
• 3-point Contest: Damian Lillard wins with 26 points in final round
• Dunk Contest: Mac McClung beats Trey Murphy III in final round

Here are some key takeaways from the night:

1. McClung steals the show

To the extent that Mac McClung was known at all by casual fans prior to Saturday night, it was as a viral Instagram star in his high school days. He then went on to play at Georgetown and Texas Tech, and since going undrafted in 2021 has been grinding away in the G League, waiting for his shot. 

It finally came this week, first when he signed a two-way contract with the Sixers, and then in the Slam Dunk Contest; he did not waste the opportunity. McClung started off by jumping over two people, tapping the ball on the backboard and throwing down a reverse slam on his first attempt, and never looked back. Of his four dunks, three received a perfect 50 from the judges, and the other got a 49.8. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of McClung's performance is that he did all of his dunks on the first try. 

Given his tenuous position in the league and the fact that many believed he didn't deserve a spot in the first place, McClung had more pressure than anyone else on the stage on Saturday. At the same time, he also had the most to gain. A few weeks ago, hardly anyone outside of diehard basketball fans even knew his name; now, Magic Johnson is crediting him with saving one of the league's marquee events. 

McClung still has an uphill climb to maintain an NBA roster spot, but no matter what happens in his career from now on, he's earned his place in league history. 

2. Lillard comes up clutch again

Damian Lillard is not only one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, but he's also one of the most clutch shooters as well. He proved as much yet again on Saturday en route to winning his first 3-Point Contest. 

In the opening round, Lillard was the last shooter and had to do better than 20 points to knock out both Jayson Tatum and Lauri Markkanen, to earn his spot in the championship round. He did so with ease, shooting his last few shots just for fun as he finished with 26 points. 

He went second in the championship round and needed to beat Buddy Hield's 25 points to take the lead and stay alive. At first, it wasn't looking good, but Lillard knocked down both of the long-range shots worth three points, then sank all four of his final shots to finish on 26 points. That proved to be the winning number, as Tyrese Haliburton was ice cold.

Lillard, who represented his alma mater of Weber State (located in Ogden, Utah) during the event, was thrilled to finally take home the trophy in his third appearance. He also said it would be the last, retiring on the spot with the win. 

3. Skills Challenge remains convoluted, poor shooting on display

The league turned the Skills Challenge into a team competition last year and kept the same format this time around. Unfortunately, they didn't make it any less convoluted. The rules and format took too long to explain, and the scoring system was not intuitive. It also didn't help that all three teams put on brutal performances in the shooting component. 

In any case, congratulations to the hometown Team Jazz, who took home the trophy. They got off to a slow start in the relay portion, as Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton were a little too cool for school. However, they bounced back in the passing and shooting components to win 200 challenge points (again, the scoring system was a little odd) and take down Team Antetokounmpos and Team Rooks. 

Next year, let's just go back to the solo contest in which players go through a simple obstacle course as fast as possible.