The most electrifying dunker in recent NBA memory is trading the United Center for the Iberian Peninsula.
Mac McClung, the Texas Tech guard who became a three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion and won G League MVP honors last season, has signed with a professional team in Spain. The move ends — at least for now — a remarkable run in American professional basketball that made McClung one of the sport's most recognizable highlight-reel names despite never fully cracking a permanent NBA roster.
McClung's path has been anything but conventional. Undrafted out of Texas Tech, he bounced between NBA rosters and the G League before turning the Dunk Contest into his personal stage, winning the event in back-to-back-to-back fashion and generating the kind of viral reach that most lottery picks never achieve. Last season's G League MVP award was the competitive validation to match the showmanship — proof that the dunks weren't just theater.
The Spanish league represents a legitimate next chapter. European leagues have long served as proving grounds and destinations for players on the NBA bubble, and McClung's combination of athleticism, name recognition, and now a G League MVP pedigree makes him an attractive signing for any club looking to move tickets and win games.
For Red Raiders fans, McClung has been the program's most visible NBA-era ambassador — a player whose Lubbock roots became part of his underdog story. Texas Tech has a handful of other alumni scattered across NBA rosters heading into the 2026–27 season, including Terrence Shannon Jr. with the Timberwolves, Kevin McCullar Jr. with the Knicks, and Jaylon Tyson and Zhaire Smith with the Cavaliers, but none have generated the mainstream crossover attention that McClung built through the Dunk Contest circuit.
Whether the Spain stint becomes a one-year detour or a longer overseas career remains to be seen. At his age and with his athletic gifts, the door back to an NBA camp invite is unlikely to close entirely. But for now, McClung is taking the show to a new continent — and Spanish basketball fans are about to find out what Texas Tech highlight reels are made of.
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