Draymond Green throws shade at Mac McClung’s All-Star Dunk Championship title: “You gotta be in the NBA”
Draymond Green was part of the TNT crew that covered the NBA All-Star weekend. As one of the analysts for “Inside the NBA,” he had a front-row seat to the dunk contest won by Mac McClung. The Osceola Magic guard defended the crown he impressively won last year.
McClung was a few days into his two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers when the NBA asked him to join the said competition last year. The unheralded player was given the unenviable task of trying to save a competition that many wanted to be abolished. In what was considered by most fans to be one of the best performances in years, the former South Bay Lakers star delivered.
Draymond Green, on his podcast, had this to say about Mac McClung’s repeat win and the All-Star dunk competition:
(5:30 mark)
“I’ve already said my piece before about G Leaguers being in the dunk contest. A part of being in the dunk contest and a part of being in the All-Star weekend is being in the NBA. Mac McClung is my guy as I told y’all.
"But, you gotta be in the NBA to be in the NBA dunk contest. If not, then we should just go and get all of those guys off of those dunk squads and say, ‘Hey man, this show we’re putting on is not necessarily All-Star week.”
Mac McClung was technically part of the NBA when he won the said contest the first time. Although he was on a two-way contract, he also managed to play for the Philadelphia 76ers for two games. This year, though, is a different story as the high-leaping guard was with the Orlando Magic affiliate when he was invited to defend his title.
Draymond Green is urging Aaron Gordon to return and win the Slam Dunk contest
Aaron Gordon is considered by many, including Draymond Green, as a slam dunk legend. Although he never won the contest, some basketball fans and analysts thought he was robbed in 2016 when the judges gave Zach LaVine the trophy. Gordon again placed second to Derrick Jones Jr. in another thriller that many thought should have gone to the Denver Nuggets forward.
Like avid fans of the sport, Green is longing to see the ferocious dunker attempt to win the event:
(4:44 mark)
“ Let me not forget and I mean this from the bottom of my heart because it is ridiculous. ... Aaron Gordon is still the best dunk contest performer we’ve ever seen to not have a dunk contest trophy. Absolutely insane!
“The dunk contest is pretty bad, to say the least. So, Aaron Gordon, the dunk contest needs you.”
Gordon, however, has already responded to clamors for his return. The 2023 champ with the Nuggets already said that he would return only if he makes it to the All-Star team. He could get in if the fans overwhelmingly vote for him.
If that does not happen, Draymond Green and the rest will have to be content watching G Leaguer Mac McClung rule the said competition.