Many players in the world dream of making it to the NBA, yet every year, only 60 have the opportunity to be drafted. Many players who have talent and aren’t able to maximize it end up playing in other leagues and spend their careers trying to get one opportunity at the NBA level. Mac McClung is young, but his path has been far from straightforward.
Mac McClung got a buff that not many players on the fringes of the league have gotten often in the past. Despite being in the G-League, he was allowed to participate in the Slam Dunk Contest. Many expected Mac to fail, and even superstars like Kevin Durant questioned why he would be there, but McClung proved everyone wrong and rocked the arena at All-Star Weekend.
He is currently under contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, although it is a two-way contract, meaning that there’s no guarantee he’ll play much in the NBA. However, his Dunk Contest heroics will catch everyone’s eye, and an opportunity to play is certain to come his way moving forward. And as hard as this road has been for him, McClung chose this over what many would have considered a safer option.
Mac McClung Had Offers Worth More Than $1 Million From Fenerbache And The Shanghai Sharks
Playing in the EuroLeague and China is perfectly acceptable; many top pros do the same. However, McClung knew his dream was to make it to the NBA, so he chose to remain and go through the G-League instead. This was shared in a report by The Athletic, which did a piece on the Dunk Contest winner.
“McClung faced this dilemma last summer. He could have made over a million dollars playing either for Fenerbahce (Turkey) or the Shanghai Sharks (China). Fenerbahce is one of the top teams in the EuroLeague, which contains the top clubs from all of the top European domestic leagues. Outside of the NBA, it is the best league in the world.
“McClung passed on the opportunity to play in Europe, and even on the Exhibit-10 deal, was making less than six figures in the G League. But the G League is an easier path to the NBA.”
Making it to the NBA requires taking risks and sometimes taking options that are less safe in the long run. But Mac McClung is only 24, and this calculated risk of his seems to have paid off. Everyone knows his name thanks to the Dunk Contest, and this opportunity would never have been available to him if he was playing in Europe or China.
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