NBA Slam Dunk Contest participants: Mac McClung bids for a 3-peat

The NBA has been trying to re-invent the All Star Game over the past few years to get its stars to take the event more seriously but the league has had little trouble drawing attention to All-Star Saturday night. What started as an add-on to the game has now become the main event in the eyes of some fans as more of the league's brightest stars participate in things like the Skills Challenge, Three-Point contest and the Slam Dunk contest.

The Dunk contest has seen better days as many of the league's stars opt to bypass the event, which was once a showcase for stars and future Hall of Famers like Dominique Wilkins, Michael Jordan and Vince Carter soared to glory. While you'll occasionally have a big name player opt to participate, like Donovan Mitchell actually winning the contest in 2018 as a member of the Utah Jazz, the Dunk Contest has become a spot where younger players try to make a name for themselves on the national stage.

Who is participating in the 2025 Slam Dunk contest?

The headliner of the 2025 Slam Dunk contest is two-time reigning champion Mac McClung, who has represented his G-League affiliate in each of the past two years. McClung, who is currently a member of the Osceola Magic after signing a two-way deal with Orlando, is bidding to become the first three-peat champion while also tying Nate Robinson's record for most Dunk Contest titles with three.

McClung is already a member of a small and historic group of players who have the Dunk Contest more than once — Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner, Jason Richardson and Zach LaVine.

The other three participants in the contest are first-timers, with rookies Stephon Castle of the San Antonio Spurs and Mateas Buzelis of the Chicago Bulls joining second-year player Andre Jackson Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks to challenge McClung for the crown. Castle is the first Spurs player to participate in the Dunk contest since 1988 while Buzelis snaps an 18-year drought of Bulls' participants.

The contest will feature a panel of five judges, which includes four former NBA stars — Baron Davis, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and two-time Slam Dunk champion Jason Richardson. The fifth slot is being occupied by content creator Jesser, who will represent the fans of the NBA ID community, who will be voting live to rate the dunks and serve as a tiebreaking vote in the final rounds.

Who opted not to participate in the Slam Dunk contest?

The easy answer to this question is pretty much every NBA star that is well known to the casual fan. While specific invitation requests haven't leaked publicly, the tradition of ascending NBA superstars participating in the contest was clearly broken by LeBron James, who never opted to participate in his younger years.

James' refusal to participate made it socially acceptable in the NBA community for established stars not to do the Dunk Contest because the risk of public embarrasment from a bad dunking performance outweighs their potential gains from winning the contest. Given the fact that more established players opt to participate in the three-point contest, it is a bit surprising that the NBA hasn't moved the Dunk Contest off of its traditional placement at the end of All-Star Saturday Night.