The 2025 NBA Slam Dunk Contest was... fine?
Mac McClung was truly electric, in keeping with tradition. His performance, in a vacuum, ranks among the very best in Dunk Contest history. He became the first person to three-peat as Slam Dunk champ, which is awesome. It's slightly less awesome when he's just not facing anyone of consequence, though.
Stephon Caslte, Matas Buzelis, and Andre Jackson Jr. will all be good players in this league for a long time, but Buzelis and Jackson were blatantly ill-prepared for the Dunk Contest's bright lights. Castle finished strong in the championship round after a slow start, but he didn't come close to earnestly challenging McClung.
He has been an absolute joy to watch these last few All-Star weekends, but McClung is more or less a G League player. McClung entered the NBA four years ago and has appeared in five NBA games. He is clearly not going to carve out a career for himself at this level. Using him as a lifeline for the Dunk Contest seems ill-fated. The league needs some star-power in All-Star Saturday's marquee event, which once hosted the likes of Vince Carter and Michael Jordan.
Thankfully, McClung's three-peat appears to be catching the attention of the right folks.
Ja Morant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Zach LaVine all expressed interest in participating next season.
Thinking I might have too again…. https://t.co/LVnVyEGOwP
— Zach LaVine (@ZachLaVine) February 16, 2025
What is the absolute dream lineup for next year's Slam Dunk contest? Let's dive in...
Dream 2026 NBA Slam Dunk Contest lineup
The NBA needs star-power, but it also needs committed dunkers and the highest level of athlete. LeBron James, at 40, can absolutely throw down dunks worthy of this competition, and we'd all like to see James go for it. That said, his time for the Slam Dunk contest was a decade ago. The moment is gone.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a bonafide MVP candidate and superstar, so his interest is genuinely encouraging. That said, if we're building the absolute dream lineup, I am skeptical of Giannis as a great Dunk Contest dunker. He's too tall. It's hard to be that long and pull off something as aesthetically marvelous as 6-foot-2 Mac McClung clearing 7-foot Evan Mobley.
Another side note: I don't think Aaron Gordon has it anymore, unfortunately. We'd all love to see another round of LaVine and Gordon, but AG's legs, though still explosive, aren't "leaping over a spinning mascot" explosive anymore.
So, we are, unfortunately, axing Giannis, Aaron Gordon, and LeBron from consideration. This is a highly rigorous and selective process. Only the best of the best will crack the final four-man field. So, without further ado...
Dunker No. 4: Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
Take your pick of the Thompson twins here. Maybe both should compete. That would be fun, but we're pressed for space. Should we include more than four participants? If only such a future was possible.
Amen Thompson gets the nod since he's the more popular and imminently successful Thompson twin. This has been a breakthrough sophomore campaign for the Houston Rockets swingman, who just might be the fastest and the most vertically explosive athlete in basketball. It's hard to find another player who glides through time and space like the 6-foot-7 Thompson.
You can find Thompson's hang time on display in a variety of areas — improbable offensive rebounds, chase-down blocks, thunderous alley-oops. There's a good chance he can turn in a Dunk Contest in line with the Vince Carters, Zach LaVines, and Mac McClungs of the world.
Dunker No. 3: Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
Frankly, Ja Morant in the Dunk Contest scares me. The injuries are starting to pile up and Morant has never quite figured out how to land. That said, he's still an incredible athlete, and he fits perfectly in the mold of this competition.
A 6-foot-2, 174-pound point guard who seems to defy physics on every dunk, Morant offers the sort of showmanship that would do this competition good. He loves to embarrass defenders in-game, and he'd take plenty of joy from one-upping his opponents in a Dunk Contest setting.
There isn't a more shocking in-game dunker in basketball right now. Morant is one-of-one in his ability to create fissures in a defense and elevate through traffic, despite a slight frame that should not, under any normal circumstances, be hurdling into contested airspace at the speed with which Morant operates.
Dunker No. 2: Zach LaVine, Sacramento Kings
Frankly, it's fair to make the same argument for Zach LaVine that I made for Aaron Gordon earlier. He's 29 years old. LaVine's second Slam Dunk title was nine years ago. He was a young pup, still on the Timberwolves and fresh out of UCLA. LaVine has incurred many lower-leg injuries since then, and he's just not quite the same nuclear athlete who once lit up All-Star Saturday night.
That said, LaVine is a generationally dynamic athlete. His "slightly diminished" explosiveness still outranks 99 percent of NBA players. He can still get up there in games, whether it's catching a lob out in transition or straight-line driving and soaring right over the contesting big man. LaVine's hops remain elite, and he'd bring the cachet of a two-time champ.
We know LaVine has the creativity to pull out some truly incredible dunks on this stage. We don't see a ton of 30-year-old winners, and LaVine will turn 30 next season, but we can't let that sort of talk get in the way. LaVine is more than capable of old-man dunking his way to a title, even against the very best athletes this sport can throw at him.
Dunker No. 1: Mac McClung, Orlando Magic
Why not? With all due respect to the biggest and brightest NBA stars, there's a good chance none of 'em can dunk like Mac McClung in a contest setting. The three-time champ should absolutely look to four-peat, but only — and this is important — only if it's against a properly star-studded lineup. McClung beating Zach LaVine and Ja Morant would cement his status as perhaps the greatest Dunk Contest participant ever. That's different than the NBA dragging McClung out for his fourth Slam Dunk title against, like, Scoot Henderson.
McClung might just be the highest leaper in basketball right now, despite the lack of in-game evidence. It's hard to overstate the difficulty of a "6-foot-2" human clearing a Kia and Evan Mobley in the same evening. Not only did McClung clear Evan Mobley, but he tapped the rim with his head at the level, then dunked it. The dude is incredible. It's easy to get bogged down by the lack of competition, but McClung reaching deeper into his bag against NBA All-Stars has the making of an all-time television experience.
What uniform will McClung be wearing next season? That remains unclear. He has stuck around Orlando's organization for a couple years now, but McClung's dreams of actually cracking the NBA are starting to wane. Can a Euroleague star battle Zach LaVine and Ja Morant in the Dunk Contest? It's time to find out.