Leslie prevented McClung from having all perfect scores

Philadelphia 76ers guard Mac McClung (9) takes a photo with Lisa Leslie in the Dunk Contest during the 2023 All Star Saturday Night at Vivint Arena. Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Lisa Leslie prevented Mac McClung from having all perfect scores

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 2/19/23

Mac McClung put on a show at the dunk contest on Saturday night in Salt Lake City to win the competition, achieving perfect dunks on nearly every attempt.

In fact, if not for one judge, he would have received perfect scores on every single one of his dunks.

Five people served as judges for the competition, and each judge scored dunks on a scale of 0-50. Each competitor’s score per dunk was the average of the five judges’ scores.

McClung received a perfect 50 score on 19 of his possible 20 judge scores (four dunks with five judges per dunk). The only dunk of McClung’s that did not get a totally perfect score was his second dunk of the first round.

Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins, Jamal Crawford and Harold Miner all gave McClung a perfect 50 on his second dunk, but Lisa Leslie gave McClung a 49.

Here is the dunk in question:

Mac McClung's score by each judge on his second dunk in the first round:

Jamal Crawford – 50
Karl Malone – 50
Harold Miner – 50
Dominique Wilkins – 50
Lisa Leslie – 49

@NBA pic.twitter.com/KnoyxXHqQt

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 19, 2023

McClung’s score for that dunk was 49.8. He received a perfect 50 score on his other three dunks and won the competition with ease.

Even though Leslie ruined McClung’s effort to get nothing but perfect 50s, she still was complimentary of him.

.@LisaLeslie thinks Mac McClung is the TRUTH pic.twitter.com/sAKRfgZVBw

— WNBA (@WNBA) February 19, 2023

“Mac … it was amazing. I love the power, I love the double-pump. He could have actually got a 10 on all his dunks, but I wanted to leave a little room on that second dunk just in case, but hands down, the winner won. I’m happy the right guy got the trophy this time,” Leslie said afterwards.

That’s the type of logic that used to keep a great ballplayer from being a unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer. Maybe next time Leslie won’t be so tight with her scores.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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