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After Mac McClung won his third straight dunk contest, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo teased their potential participation next year.

mac might make me decide to dunk

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) February 16, 2025

If you do it. I’ll do it with you https://t.co/dsKglTiTca

— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 16, 2025

They would bring much-needed star power to the contest. While McClung is one of the greatest dunkers in the history of the contest, he is on a two-way contract and has spent much of his career in the G League. Last season Jaylen Brown was the first All-Star to participate since 2017.

Mac McClung was dynamite once again in the Slam Dunk Contest, easily winning the competition among a field that frankly was not ready for prime time.

1ST DUNK.
STATEMENT DUNK.#ATTSlamDunk https://t.co/dTqfwLMM8N pic.twitter.com/t6CniYdmOn

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

ANOTHER 50. @McclungMac is putting on a SHOW in the #ATTSlamDunk! pic.twitter.com/etXy1ci1CF

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

In the final, McClung defeated the Spurs' Stephon Castle, who put on a valiant effort.

OK STEPHONpic.twitter.com/IVmerVgfzo

— PFSN (@PFN365) February 16, 2025

But no one could top the wild stuff McClung was doing.

MAC MCCLUNG DOUBLE DUNK!!!

HES ONE OF THE GOATS pic.twitter.com/C9PfUnlZ1z

— BetMGM (@BetMGM) February 16, 2025

Mac is unreal! pic.twitter.com/W5iasFFXiT

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) February 16, 2025

mac mcclung.

told a seven footer to STAND ON A PLATFORM while holding the ball.

then CLEARED him clean.

grabbed the ball.

TAPPED THE RIM and THEN DUNKED IT.

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) February 16, 2025

Jumped over Evan Mobley AND tapped the ball on the rim

IT'S A THREE-PEAT

Mac McClung, 2025 #ATTSlamDunk Champ! pic.twitter.com/vBYejtMMZX

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

Mac McClung actually cleared the top of the car. For comparison, here's Blake Griffin in 2011 simply jumping over the hood of a Kia. McClung starting strong in his three-peat bid.

RELEMBRANDO QUANDO BLAKE GRIFFIN PULOU UM KIA pic.twitter.com/gMwpE0a5fE

— Coast to Coast Brasil | NBA (@brasilcoast2) February 16, 2025

Yup, Mac McClung jumped a Kia in the dunk contest.

Mac McClung YOU ARE CRAZYYYYYYYpic.twitter.com/tASjuE7wv9

— Across The Cavs (@AcrossCavs) February 16, 2025

MAC MCCLUNG pic.twitter.com/fbvGmtWOOm

— Mike Zakarian (@MikeZakarian) February 16, 2025

Good Lord.

We're off to an ominous start on the heels of the Vince highlights. Stephon Castle landed a nice dunk on his first try. But Matas Buzelis whiffed on multiple attempts and failed to land a dunk on his first try.

MATAS BUZELIS DISASTERCLASS INFRONT OF THE WHOLE WORLD pic.twitter.com/5lWPyT7Aaq

— Drix (@DrixRMFC) February 16, 2025

CASTLE 360 VICIOUS WINDMILL

he received a score of 47.2 pic.twitter.com/edzsLk7Fkx

— WembyMuse (@Wemby_Muse) February 16, 2025

On the 25th anniversary of Vince Carter's legendary victory in the dunk contest at Oracle Arena in Oakland, the NBA celebrated with a video segment at Chase Center in San Francisco before this year's contestants took the court, showing each of his five dunks on the Jumbotron.

"I'm proud to be part of NBA dunk history," said Carter.

Highlighting the greatest dunk performance ever before a bunch of players who are not as recognizable as Carter might not be the greatest idea. It could set us up for disappointment.

Case in point: Matas Buzelis missed all three of his attempts on his first dunk. Yikes.

Tyler Herro survived a late rally from Buddy Hield to win the 2025 3-Point Contest.

Herro scored 24 points in the deciding round, but Hield came close to toppling him with 23 points but missed his final shot on the final rack.

24 PTS. TYLER HERRO SETS THE MARK TO BEAT

Buddy Hield is next in #Starry3PT on TNT.... pic.twitter.com/YZY8ocN1tB

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

Damian Lillard, the two-time defending champion of the 3-point contest, will not three-peat.

LIllard scored 18 points in his round, not enough to match Buddy Hield, Darius Garland or Tyler Herro, who advance to the finals of the competition.

The league will have a new 3-point champion, as none of them has won before.

Adam Silver addressed the media prior to Saturday's All-Star festivities. Some highlights ...

On the Luka Doncic trade: "I was surprised when I heard about the trade. I did not know that Luka was potentially a player that was about to be traded. That was news to me. I followed it like a fan from that standpoint. ... In terms of anger in the fanbase, I’m empathetic. I understand it. ...

"Whether or not history will ultimately judge this as a smart trade, the Mavericks did what they thought was in the best interest of their organization. I have absolutely no knowledge or belief there were any ulterior motives. There’s no doubt in my mind that the Dumont and Adelson families bought that team to keep it in Dallas. I have no doubt whatsoever that they’re committed to the long-term success of that franchise."

On criticism about the amount of 3-pointers in the game: "I was listening to Steve Kerr interviewed by Bob Costas. I actually was eagerly awaiting his response on the state of 3-point shooting in this league. He was one of the all-time great 3-point shooters when he played, and, if anything, the 3-point revolution was led by the Golden State Warriors and Stephen Curry. His reaction was: 'Do I think there’s too much 3-point shooting? Possibly, yes. Do I think the state of the game is great? Also yes. Is there a fix that comes to mind that would improve the game and potentially reduce the amount of 3-point shooting?' There wasn’t one that he had to suggest. ...

"One of the things we pay a lot of attention to at the league and through the Competition Committee is: To the extent we have more 3-point shooting, where are those shots coming from? They are not coming from under the basket. Roughly 50% of the points are still scored in that area. So what you’re seeing is a conversion from 2-pointers to 3-pointers, and often those longer shots do take more skill. ...

"A long way of saying we’re paying a lot of attention to it. I’m never going to say there isn’t room for improvement. We’ll continue to look at it and study it, but I am happy with the state of the game right now."

On TV ratings: "It’s almost more media these days instead of TV ratings. But I’ll begin with the state of our ratings right now as they are conventionally measured. They’re slightly down from last season. We had some weakness early in the season. We rebounded, and ratings are heading up right now. So I see that as very positive. And I will say, that’s compared to last year’s regular season, which were our highest ratings in four years. I actually think what was a somewhat negative story early in the season has now turned into a positive and trending upward.

"Having said that, we don’t just look exclusively at traditional TV ratings. One of the things we look a lot at is: How do you measure engagement? Engagement can be measured in many different ways. One is attendance. We came off last season the highest-recorded attendance in the history of the entire league. I look at engagement through social media, and many different platforms, expanding number of platforms all the time. From that standpoint, record popularity. ...

"People are using screens more than ever, but there’s only so much time in the day. So if you’re on X or if you’re on Facebook or you’re on Instagram, whatever else, or on Reels, that’s time you might have otherwise been watching television. I think it’s incumbent on us then to reach our fans wherever they are. That kind of engagement is really important to us, as well. ...

"I actually think it’s additive. I think we have a much better chance of moving young fans, in particular, to live games if they become engaged with various forms of our content, whether it’s things that our players are doing off the floor, music they love, fashion, or highlights.nBut I think what the challenge for the league is then, how do we move those viewers, those fans to live games? I think part of it is by being smarter in the way we go about creating a lot of that content."

On the drama surrounding the Jimmy Butler trade and whether we will see more of it under the new collective bargaining agreement: "I’m not concerned that that will be the result of the new CBA. I actually think that what the CBA was designed to do, honestly, is to force teams to make difficult decisions. I think teams are still finding their way a bit through this new second apron and what it means. But for us it’s no secret that part of the design of that CBA and pushing down high-end spending was to create more parity in the league and to do a better job distributing our best players around the 30 teams. I think you’re seeing that to a certain extent already.

I’ll note, and I think new CBAs are always difficult to predict, I think it was only a few months ago when the conventional wisdom around the league seemed to be that we sort of spoiled the excitement around the trade deadline. That the day and age of these great trades at the deadline weren’t going to happen anymore. I think we just saw more players moved before the trade deadline than anytime in the history of the league."

On the rescinded Mark Williams trade: "Charlotte has not filed a protest of any kind."

Darius Garland set the 3-point contest pace to beat with 24 points in his first round.

Darius Garland setting the pace with 24 points #Starry3PT on TNT pic.twitter.com/MEo4C0eNdB

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

This year's field includes two-time reigning 3-point champion, Damian Lillard, who is also among five 2025 All-Stars competing in the shootout. Lillard will look to become the third player in the contest's history to threepeat, joining Larry Bird and Craig Hodges.

Here's the full list of participants:

Jalen Brunson, Knicks

Cade Cunningham, Pistons

Darius Garland, Cavaliers

Tyler Herro, Heat

Buddy Hield, Warriors

Cam Johnson, Nets

Damian Lillard, Bucks

Norman Powell, Clippers

Cavs duo Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell topped the Warriors tandem of Draymond Green and Moses Moody to win the Skills Challenge on Saturday night.

And that makes sense because, after all, the Cleveland pair are All-Stars.

Cavs stay winning https://t.co/NBTLAE5u8c pic.twitter.com/Z3y0ESeBIB

— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2025

"It was definitely cheating though"

Team Cavs caught up with @ALaForce before the final round of the NBA Skills Challenge ️ pic.twitter.com/DlJnFhohdj

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 16, 2025

In an ominous start to the evening, San Antonio Spurs teammates Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul — the very first participants of the NBA's festivities on the Saturday night of All-Star Weekend — were disqualified from the Skills Challenge for trying to circumnavigate the rules.

CP3 and Wemby have been disqualified from the Skills Challenge: pic.twitter.com/ospns4OO1Z

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) February 16, 2025

Instead of trying to make one of three attempts from the 3-point line and free-throw line, both Wembanyama and Paul tossed each ball into the air in rapid succession. There is no requirement to make a shot at every station, just to take the three shots. An attempt must be made, though.

"That's fine," Paul could be heard saying on the broadcast, as the news was broken to him.

"It was definitely cheating, though," joked Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who won the competition alongside teammate Evan Mobley.

Afterwards, TNT attempted to interview Paul and Wembanyama, only to be told by a member of the NBA's staff not to engage with the players. It was strange all around, overshadowing the first portion of the evening. Wembanyama is, after all, one reason why fans might watch this event.

With the NBA All-Star weekend ongoing, conversations about the league's on-court product are once again at the forefront. Though interest and revenue in the NBA are growing, discussions around whether NBA games have stagnated hang over the league even as it tries to evolve its All-Star format.

On Saturday, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green got candid about the state of the game. Green is set to compete in the Skills Challenge on Saturday night, paired with Warriors teammate Moses Moody.

When asked if he thought the NBA game was boring, Green was blunt. "Absolutely," he said, via the Associated Press.

The four-time NBA champion referenced an interview where the late Kobe Bryant said that the game had become "accidental basketball."

"He couldn’t have been more right," Green said of Bryant's comments.

Here's the rest of what Draymond had to say.

With the frenzy of the 2025 NBA trade deadline now behind us, the attention of the NBA-watching world now shifts to the Bay Area for the high-octane basketball exhibition/convention/trade show that is 2025 All-Star Weekend. Here are a few things to keep an eye on as the league’s best and brightest strut their stuff across three days of basketball-adjacent endeavors, social-media brand activation opportunities and fresh-coat-of-painted tournament-style play.

Everything you need to know for All-Star Weekend.