There will be a new slam dunk champion as three-time winner Mac McClung won't be taking part in the 2026 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest. The event is set for Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. McClung was the first one to ever win three slam dunk competitions in a row.
The 2026 Slam Dunk contest will be the third and final event on All-Star Saturday Night, which begins at 5 p.m. ET and also includes the Shooting Stars and 3-Point Contest. Carter Bryant enters as the 2026 Slam Dunk Contest favorite at +170 at FanDuel. He is followed on the dunk contest odds board by Jaxson Hayes (+240), Keshad Johnson (+310) and Jase Richardson (+430). Bryant beating Hayes (+600) is the most likely exact outcome prop.
Before making any 2026 Slam Dunk picks or All-Star weekend predictions, see the picks from SportsLine's NBA expert Mike Barner.
Barner is one of the most respected voices in the industry, and his work has appeared in Sports Illustrated and on Yahoo, RotoWire and KFFL. He's also been featured on ESPN Radio. He digs deep into the data, examining team trends and projecting game outcomes. If there's anybody who can spot an edge in a matchup or identify a player in position to break out, it's him.
Barner's expertise has been on full display lately as he enters the All-Star break on an 40-17 run on NBA picks (+2014)! Last year he finished by going 239-178-2, returning $3,209 to $100 bettors on against-the-spread NBA picks. Anyone following could have seen HUGE returns!
Now he has analyzed the 2026 Slam Dunk contest from all angles and is delivering his picks for SportsLine. We can tell you that Barner is fading Hayes, even though he is one of the favorites. "Hayes is listed as 7-feet tall. Dwight Howard (6-11) and Larry Nance (6-10) are the only players at least 6-10 to win the award, so I'm eliminating Hayes from consideration," Barner told SportsLine.
Instead, Barner's Slam Dunk winner is a longshot he describes as "if he can convert his attempts, it could be more eye-popping." You ABSOLUTELY need to see who it is before locking in any picks of your own.
So who wins the 2026 Slam Dunk contest? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Saturday's 2026 Slam Dunk pick, all from the SportsLine expert who is on a 40-17 run on his NBA picks!
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Written by Daniel Kohn
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