Jamel McLean Relives Game Winner That Beat Spurs

It can sometimes take an entire career for a professional basketball player to stamp his imprint on the heart of a franchise. In most cases, life-lasting fame often requires winning championships.

Whether it’s in the NBA or overseas, only an exclusive group of individuals achieve such stardom.

To name a few: Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls, Larry Bird with the Boston Celtics and Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA; Dimitris Diamantidis with Panathinaikos, Juan Carlos Navarro with Barcelona and Derrick Sharp with Maccabi in Europe.

For 6’8, New-York-born power forward Jamel McLean, it took one shot. Not a championship. Not a state-cup. Not an MVP award. Not even a regular season game. It took just one shot during a meaningless preseason game.

McLean, a 26-year-old overseas veteran, is playing for German powerhouse ALBA Berlin. His claim to fame took place six months ago in Berlin in the closing moments of an exhibition game. With the game clock running down, McLean raced up the floor and hit a game-winning buzzer-beater to stun the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, 94-93.

It was big deal for McLean. But it was an even bigger deal for Berlin.

ALBA lost in the Bundesliga final series last season and hasn’t won a domestic championship in the current decade. ALBA isn’t even the current No. 1 seed in the BBL. Furthermore, the club never even qualified for the deep rounds of the Euroleague, the top tier Euro-competition.

The crowd’s reaction – as expected – was on par with beating the world champs.

When I talked to McLean about his once in a lifetime running-floater, he couldn’t stop smiling.

“I never made a game-winning shot before. That was a first for me,” McLean, an Xavier University product, told Basketball Insiders over a sit-down interview.

We watched the highlights of the last possession. Here is what happened from McLean’s viewpoint:

“It was an unbelievable all-around team effort,” McLean said. “For a split second, I couldn’t believe I had the ball. It all happened so fast. I just put up a shot and it went in. It’s crazy every time I watch it because I took off from the three-point line. I can’t even explain the experience.”

I asked McLean, did he know the shot was good when he let it fly?

“To be honest,” he says, “I thought it was off.”

It was more than just a game for McLean, though. More than just a shot. More than just his coming out party to the world. It was closure.

McLean was part of a private workout group to audition for San Antonio two summers ago. He spent three days competing with future NBA ring-holders Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green, among others. Tim Duncan also made a brief appearance, though he didn’t suit up.

It was a magical moment McLean vowed to cherish for the rest of his life. “THE SHOT” – as McLean calls it – was so perfect he hasn’t turned back the clock since. It was so good McLean can’t even bring himself to attempt a replica demonstration while fooling around before or after practice.

“I still think about ‘THE SHOT’ all the time and watch it once a week,” he admitted. “It was the best shot I ever made. It was a major confidence boost going into the season with a win over the world champs.”

McLean came off the bench to record a team-high 18 points (shooting six-for-nine from the field) and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes. Duncan, who recorded 14 points and 10 boards, and came up short in pursuit of McLean on the decisive possession, was the first of the Spurs to congratulate McLean.

“THE SHOT” changed everything for Berlin’s rising star. McLean was since voted into the German league All-Star game and has lost track of the number of jerseys and shoes he signed since. He also added a couple hundred new followers on Twitter.

It took McLean a few seasons to establish himself as a force overseas. Coming out of college, he spent his rookie season in 2011 in Belgium posting solid, but not great numbers. He bounced around Europe the following season, going from the Italian second-division, back to Belgium, then to Germany.

McLean would record back-to-back seasons with BBL club Telekom Bonn and experienced his breakout campaign last season, registering 15.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest in the EuroCup, in addition to 13.2 points per game while leading the German league in rebounds with 7.7 boards per game.

“The game against the Spurs broadcasted my skills to the NBA and showed that I am capable of playing at that level,” said McLean.

Asked to describe his game and which NBAer shares the closest resemblance, McLean said: “My game is freelance. I just go out there and rebound, finish around the basket and make sure to play strong at all times. I’d go with DeJuan Blair and DeMarcus Cousins in players that remind me of myself. I can be a glue-guy to come off the bench for 10-15 minutes in the NBA.”

The framework of McLean’s contract in Berlin is a one-plus-one partnership, but it is expected of him to opt-out over the summer in pursuit of signing with a Euroleague varsity club, a source with knowledge told Basketball Insiders.

McLean is averaging 14 points and 5.4 rebounds per game through 17 Euroleague showings this season. McLean is ranked among the top 10 players in eight different categories, including No. 1 in free-throw attempts while shooting 93.5 percent from the stripe.