Despite losing in the Slam Dunk Finals, the Spurs rookie guard isn’t closing the window on another return to the event.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle came up short in the 2025 NBA Dunk Contest, losing to the defending champion, Mac McClung, in the finals.
The Spurs rookie did make things interesting by scoring a 50 in his final dunk attempt, putting the pressure on his competition to deliver. However, a judge’s 49 score in his first attempt in the finals would ultimately end his run at dethroning McClung.
“I feel like I should have got a 50. I lost the first one, so I kind of understand the 49, but I feel like it should have been a 50,” he said.
With the chance of becoming the first Spur to win the event, Castle was ready for a showdown versus McClung if the score was tied at the end of the competition.
“First two dunks, I was just trying to make it on the first try. Just get myself into the second round. I try to save my best dunk for the end,” he said. “I knew he’d (McCkung) have something in his bag, especially for his third time around.”
Unlike McClung, Castle did not use props in his dunks, and the rookie guard opines that the judges give a bit more weight to props or, as he says, “creativity.”
“The little add of creativity kind of pushes you over the edge,” he said. “It’s not my call to say who had the better dunks, so that’s up to them (judges), and I guess they went with Mac.”
For his final dunk, McClung lept over Cavs 6-11 Evan Mobley on a platform in front of the basket, with Mobley holding the ball behind his head. The Orlando guard jumped over him, tapping the rim with the ball before slamming it down and clinching the victory.
“My third dunk probably should have been a 50. We could have went to a dunk off. I don’t know if that’s what the crowd would have wanted, but, I mean, overall I was happy with it,” said Castle.
Said Castle: “His dunks are crazy. I would give all his dunks 50, too, but I feel like he earned it and he did a great job.”
Despite coming up short in the event, Castle is leaving the door open for a return to the dunk contest.
“I had a dunk if we would have went to a dunk off. I wasn’t able to show it,” he said. “I’ll probably save it for if I come back.”