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Mac McClung Defends Slam Dunk Title as Marketing Profile Grows

eric jackson
·4 min read
5

(UPDATE: McClung won the slam dunk contest Saturday night, defeating Jaylen Brown to become the fifth back-to-back champion in the contest’s history.)

Mac McClung has proven to be one of the best players in the G League, but his games don’t command a lot of national attention. The NBA slam dunk contest, however, is a prime opportunity to showcase his skills and personality in front of millions watching at home.

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McClung has returned to NBA All-Star Weekend, where he looks to defend his 2023 slam dunk title in Indianapolis against a new crop of competitors. The grand stage is an opportunity for the former YouTube sensation to not only reintroduce himself to the hoops community but also leverage the national spotlight to get more eyeballs from NBA scouts and decisionmakers.

“I may have even more nerves [this year],” McClung said in an interview. “We’ve worked hard to try to create some things that people haven’t seen before. I’m super excited.”

McClung, who plays for the Osceola Magic and participated in the Rising Stars game Friday night, also has the chance to again catch the eyes of top brands interested in his services. A season ago, the Gate City, Va., native became the first G League player to accept an invite to the NBA’s dunk contest. McClung had only a few sponsorship deals before his breakout effort in Salt Lake City, one of which was with apparel brand Puma.

His dunk contest title earned him massive marketing interest, and he signed deals with AT&T, Raising Canes, Panini America, Coinbase, Google Pixel, VKTRY Insoles and more. The G League champ even starred in a Dungeons and Dragons commercial with Vince Carter last year, and after recently extending with Puma, he plans to wear its All-Pro NITRO Showtime kicks during showtime in this year’s event.

McClung, whose winning dunks generated a half-a-billion video views on NBA social platforms in the first 12 hours after last year’s event, has been cautious and selective with brands he partners with. While he continues to grow his profile, he says he’s focused on his primary dream of returning to the NBA, where he’s appeared in four career games with a total of 33 points. This weekend is an example of that, as he has turned down in-person engagements to make sure he’s prepared to perform.

“I don’t focus on it too much,” McClung said of marketing deals. “I feel like the best partnerships come naturally. I’m not reaching for anything, but I understand the volume of this weekend. It’s definitely something that’s very cool but not a priority for me.”

In the meantime, McClung has been balling in the G League as its fourth-leading scorer. He earned player of the month honors in November. He was briefly called up to the 76ers last year prior to winning the dunk contest and played in a pair of games for them at the end of the season. He signed a partially guaranteed deal with the Orlando Magic last September but was waived before the season began.

McClung may not play in another NBA game, but off the court he has the chance to find success on the internet.

McClung, who has several hoops videos online with over a million views going back to his high school mixtape days, has avoided stepping into the basketball influencer lane for now, despite offers. But he remains open to one day being a content creator and entertaining his 1.2 million Instagram followers in a different way. As former NBA players are carving out niches as media personalities and influencers, McClung could potentially have a more lucrative career outside of pro basketball.

“As I get older, we’ll see,” he said in an interview. “Things can change within days, weeks or years, so I won’t put a yes or no on anything. But at this moment I’m not going to jump into a YouTube channel or podcasts.”

In the meantime, the G League standout will defend his title and look to put on a show for fans while also proving he belongs in the NBA. He says he’s grateful for the attention and for multiple brands wanting to align with him, and entertaining fans with some super creative dunks will only help as he chases his ultimate goal.

“I play the game because I love it,” he said. “I’m just going to go enjoy myself out there and compete.”

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