NBA All-Star Saturday blog: Mac McClung — who? — wins dazzling dunk contest

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SALT LAKE CITY — The second day of NBA All-Star Weekend is underway across Salt Lake City. Check back here for updates throughout the day on all the latest happenings.

Follow along here all and on social media via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts @kslcomsports.

Saturday, 11:51 pm

Seeing stars in SLC

The main attraction on Saturday night — the Skills Challenge, 3-point Contest, and a dazzling Dunk Contest — of the NBA All-Star weekend brought out the stars to Vivint Arena.From current and former athletes to musicians and actors, Salt Lake City was the place to be on Saturday night. The following is a list of the celebrities that made an appearance to Vivint Arena on Saturday night.Musicians:

21 Savage

Anuel

Burna Boy

Cordae

Fat Joe

G-Eazy

Janelle Monae

Jennifer Hudson

Jewel

Jully Black

Kane Brown

Lil Baby

Ozuna

Rema

Rick Ross

Slick Rick

Tems

Travis Scott

🌟 @IAMJHUD 🌟#NBACelebRow #StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/uT6ND77YAz

— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 19, 2023Television personalities:

Guy Fieri

Hasan Minhaj

🌟 @GuyFieri 🌟#NBACelebRow #StateFarmSaturday pic.twitter.com/FdHYLtRpDQ

— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 19, 2023Actors/Producers:

Chris Tucker

Gabrielle Union

Jonathan Majors

Michael B. Jordan

Sinqua Walls

Spike Lee

Simu Liu

👋 @michaelb4jordan #StateFarmSaturday • #NBACelebRow pic.twitter.com/vGJNpDzAtE

— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 19, 2023Athletes:

Albert Pujols

Dwyane Wade

Frances Tiafoe

Jason Collins

John Stockton

Julius Erving

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Karl Malone

Naomi Osaka

Shaq

Tracy McGrady

Saturday, 08:29 pm

Mac McClung ended the dunk contest

Who is Mac McClung? Many wondered that ahead of Saturday night's dunk contest. It's safe to assume that everyone knows his name now.McClung was the final participant of the four-person contest, and opened up the night with a highlight dunk worthy of a win on just his first attempt. It was good enough for a perfect 50.0 score from the judges. The baseline of NBA All-Stars exploded and surrounded the G League player.By the time it was McClung's turn to dunk for his later attempts, Vivint Arena was on its feet each time to see what he could do next. His second dunk was worthy of another perfect score, but judge Lisa Leslie, who indicated it was close but not close enough, kept him from the perfect score.McClung saved his best dunk for last — a 540 dunk — that brought the house down. There was no question who the champion was.

Final dunks … and there's a hands down winner here.

Mac McClung is amazing pic.twitter.com/0uBg85eF29

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 19, 2023His fellow challengers — Houston's KJ Martin, New Orleans' Trey Murphy III, and New York's Jericho Sims — put up a worthy fight for one of the more memorable dunk contests as of late, but McClung was the undisputed winner.

3 PERFECT SCORES

MAC MCCLUNG IS THE 2023 #ATTSlamDunk CONTEST CHAMPION 🏆#ATTSlamDunk x #StateFarmSaturday
📺: Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/kBpwkX3xTP

— NBA (@NBA) February 19, 2023

Saturday, 07:37 pm

It's always #DameTime in Utah

Rocking a Weber State jersey, Damian Lillard brought his talent to Vivint Arena and showed everyone what the state of Utah already knew: It's always #DameTime in Utah.Lilliard, who played four seasons at Weber State before being drafted to the Portland Trail Blazers, scored 26 points in the first round of the STARRY 3-point contest to knock out Utah Jazz All-Star Lauri Markkanen of contention for the final round as the final participant.Needing 25 points to take the lead from Buddy Hield of the Indiana Pacers in the final round, Lillard paced himself well and hit shot after shot to keep himself in contention. And with only 24 points on the board before his final shot of the night — the money ball — Lillard drained it from the corner.The Vivint Arena crowd erupted in cheers for their hometown collegiate star, giving Lillard the love and respect he deserves from a dominant career with the Trail Blazers.Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton, who tied an NBA All-Star 3-point contest record in the first round with 31 points, was last to go in the final round of three participants. But Haliburton couldn't compete with his opening round and only scored 17 points.

Tyrese Haliburton ties a 3-point contest record in the first round. He was feeling it. pic.twitter.com/KASRXuxmRT

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 19, 2023In the end, Damian Lillard was named champion."I feel like everything just lined up," Lillard said about winning it in Utah. "Being back here, I went to school here. I was here four years. A lot of family. A lot of friends here. People that I'm still in touch with."When I touch down here in the summer, whether I'm going back for an alumni game or just going to train, or this time, I feel the love. I know that I'm welcome here. It's a second home for me. Sometimes that's what it takes for an experience to be what it's supposed to be. I feel like this is how it was supposed to happen. I'm happy that it happened here."

And #DameTime takes the lead with 26 points, including the money ball make at the end for the go-ahead bucket pic.twitter.com/uzsSMJsCBA

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 19, 2023

Lillard talks about winning his third 3-point contest in Utah where he went to college, a place he calls "home." pic.twitter.com/huck9qZhPX

— KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) February 19, 2023

Saturday, 06:49 pm

Hometown team wins the Skills Challenge

Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler and Jordan Clarkson kicked off Saturday night with a win for the state of Utah in the NBA All-Star weekend's Skills Challenge at Vivint Arena.Team Jazz got the win after three rounds, but it didn't start out too great for the team, who struggled (to say the least), to compete against Team Rooks in the team relay event.

Not the greatest effort from Team Jazz … pic.twitter.com/a3QgtxVH4X

— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) February 19, 2023The Rooks featured Paolo Banchero, Jaden Ivey, Jabari Smith Jr. and had an opening round time of 1:14.8 to beat Team Antetokounmpos by 8.9 seconds. Team Jazz looked lost and slow, and there was no hope.But Team Jazz came out strong in the second (team passing) and third (team shooting) rounds to win the Skills Challenge title. Team Utah beat out Team Antetokounmpos 88-44 in the second round and 13-8 in the third round."It's huge for us," Sexton said. "Especially for the city. Honestly just shows the fans how much we appreciate them as well. Tonight we brought a victory home."

The Skills Challenge-winning round from Team Jazz in the shooting competition. pic.twitter.com/XsifmoqclD

— KSL.com Sports (@KSLcomSports) February 19, 2023

Saturday, 03:15 pm

Donovan Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen talk All-Star MVP chances

Donovan Mitchell is becoming a trendy pick to be this year's All-Star Game MVP.That should come as no surprise; he's going to be starting, he's having a career year in just about every category, and he's now enough of a veteran that he should be able to demand a few more shots in the defense-is-optional showcase. He's also a ball-dominant guard, which means he'll have a bit more control.Oh, and the game so happens to be where he spent the first five years of his career. And you best believe he's thought about hoisting the MVP trophy in the place he used to call home."That'd be nice," he said Saturday. "I'm not going to go shoot every shot, but close to every shot."The biggest thing is kind of going into these spaces and really appreciating (everything)," he continued. "That'd be great to win MVP. I've had a lot of full circle moments this year; that'd be another one. At the end of the day, I think for myself, just continuing to find ways to appreciate everything."Based on the crowd's response to him Saturday morning as he was introduced for the East All-Star practice, he'll likely have plenty of backers in Utah.But Lauri Markkanen will probably still have more.The Jazz All-Star forward will also start the game and is really good in transition and can shoot lights out. A hot start might mean teammates will start feeding him to help the hometown All-Star get MVP. So there's an outside chance."We'll see how it goes. I'm trying to go out there and have some fun and play to the best of my ability," Markkanen said. "Hopefully get a couple of dunks in, get a couple of 3s and see what happens. But I'm trying to go out there and win."We'll start thinking about that (the MVP), like, halfway through the game. We'll see what happens, but, I mean, I'm going to go out there and try to prove I can do these things and just put on a show."

Saturday, 02:28 pm

Which teammates would Jazz players want with them in a zombie apocalypse?

All-Star media day is similar to the Super Bowl media circus. At least in one way: A lot of reporters asking about a lot of things that aren't relevant to, well, anything. But that doesn't mean they can't be a bit interesting.Like, if you ever were curious which teammates Jazz players would want by their side in a zombie apocalypse, you're in luck."Zombie apocalypse? Whoa," said Jordan Clarkson as he pondered the question. "Either Mike Conley, Hassan Whiteside or Rudy Gobert."A real smart guy and two big dudes to do some fighting — that makes some sense.So who would be the player he wouldn't want tagging along?"The worse? Probably Donovan (Mitchell)," he said with a smile. "I don't know, man, that's my dog. I don't know if he's gonna survive in a zombie apocalypse, though."He'll get no argument from Mitchell."I wouldn't pick me," he said. "I'd have no composure. I'd probably be freaking out. I'd probably just call it quits — at this point, we're already gone."As for Collin Sexton, he said he'd take his chance with Ochai Agbaji. But there's also someone he would prefer to not be around when zombies strike."Big Walk (Walker Kessler) might get us (into trouble)," he said. "He'll probably ask too many questions. I wouldn't want Big Walk with me."So there you go, just in case you were curious.

If you wanted to know who Jordan Clarkson would want by his side in a zombie apocalypse, well, here you go.

He's not trusting his old friend Donovan. pic.twitter.com/nQJF4PURJ7

— Ryan Miller (@millerjryan) February 18, 2023

Saturday, 01:45 pm

Damian Lillard will rep Weber State purple during 3-point contest

Damian Lillard is bringing out an old-school classic.The former Weber State star said after all-star practice that he will wear his former Wildcats jersey during Saturday night's 3-point contest at Vivint Arena."I think any time an All-Star weekend is in a place where somebody connects with that place, I think it's important to pay homage and to acknowledge that," he said Saturday morning. "The fact that I lived here for four years, went to school here; I met so many friends and so many people that I still interact with and deal with on a personal level here, and just what I've laid down in this area, on the Wasatch Front, I think it was just perfect. It was perfect to be able to do that."Lillard is one of the "old guys" participating in All-Star weekend, which, the 32-year-old Oakland, California, native said, is "kind of weird.""I'm in the locker room, I'm looking around, and I see (all the young players). I'm just looking around thinking, these dudes are really young," Lillard said. "It took me back to my first All-Star Game with Kobe, Dirk and these older guys who it seems like they've been retired forever."It was just a reminder that I'm getting old."

Damian Lillard on how seeing the young guys this weekend reminds him of his first time being at NBA All-Star weekend in 2014.

More from #NBAAllStarMediaDay presented by @ATT on the NBA App!

➡️ https://t.co/kZ7DBZ02WA pic.twitter.com/8bSoRKHub9
— NBA (@NBA) February 18, 2023

Lillard has regularly given back to his alma mater, visiting his former coach Randy Rahe every time he was in town with the Trail Blazers to play the Jazz and whenever he could in the offseason. He fulfilled a promise to his mother that he would finish his degree — which he did after he left for the NBA with one season of college eligibility remaining — and eventually had his jersey retired at Weber State.So, yes, having All-Star weekend in Utah is special."I think I always make my way back here because I spent so much time here," Lillard said. "I know so many people here, so many great memories here. To be able to be in my 11th year and to be a seven-time All-Star and to have this experience here where a lot of the people that saw me kind of blossom from the beginning, for them to see me at this point and at this level of my career and as a man, it's pretty special."

NBA All-Star Saturday blog: Mac McClung — who? — wins dazzling dunk contest

By KSL.com Sports | Updated - Feb. 19, 2023 at 12:03 a.m. | Posted - Feb. 18, 2023 at 2:20 p.m.

Seeing stars in SLC

Mac McClung ended the dunk contest

It's always #DameTime in Utah

Hometown team wins the Skills Challenge

Donovan Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen talk All-Star MVP chances

Which teammates would Jazz players want with them in a zombie apocalypse?

Damian Lillard will rep Weber State purple during 3-point contest

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NBA All-Star Saturday blog: Mac McClung — who? — wins dazzling dunk contest

By KSL.com Sports | Updated - Feb. 19, 2023 at 12:03 a.m. | Posted - Feb. 18, 2023 at 2:20 p.m.

Seeing stars in SLC

Mac McClung ended the dunk contest

It's always #DameTime in Utah

Hometown team wins the Skills Challenge

Donovan Mitchell, Lauri Markkanen talk All-Star MVP chances

Which teammates would Jazz players want with them in a zombie apocalypse?

Damian Lillard will rep Weber State purple during 3-point contest

Most recent All-Star Game stories

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Cooper Flagg didn't wilt without Anthony Davis and now Mavs hope they flourish together

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