The 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game is set for Tuesday at the Toyota Center in Houston. As an appetizer, the skills competitions took place on Monday, headlined by the dunk contest (also known as the Powerade Jam Fest), and Bronny James drew the most attention of the proceedings. Still, it was a fun night of high-flying performances from top-tier prospects, and the highlights were flowing as a result.
Bronny James had a strong opening round performance, gathering a lot of attention in the process. The still uncommitted prospect and son of LeBron James put together two solid dunks to advance to the final.
Bronny hits a two hand windmill slam off the bounce pic.twitter.com/RlHx94YiqY
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) March 28, 2023
Bronny making it look easy pic.twitter.com/A9gYCKiIt4
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) March 28, 2023
Elsewhere, Matas Buzelis, who is committed to play for G League Ignite next season, had the dunk of the opening round and gathered a perfect score in the process.
PERFECT 10’S FOR MATAS BUZELIS @SCNext
#PoweradeJamFest pic.twitter.com/jwbb0fCpIe— ESPN (@espn) March 28, 2023
Still, James and Buzelis were not the only players to make the finals, leaving a great deal of uncertainty in the last stage. James did have a heck of an effort in jumping over his brother, Bryce, during the final.
BRONNY JUMPS OVER BRYCE @SCNext #PoweradeJamFest pic.twitter.com/SslljDDlPE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 28, 2023
Duke commit Sean Stewart stole the show, however, and ended up taking the crown at the end of the evening, with Bronny unable to successfully put home his last dunk of the evening.
Duke commit Sean Stewart wins the 2023 McDonald’s All American Powerade JamFest pic.twitter.com/Qa5JlUZLzb
— NIBC (@NIBCOfficial) March 28, 2023
Stewart, a five-star prospect from Montverde Academy, did execute quite well down the stretch, and the field was very enticing. It wasn’t the crowning moment for Bronny to quite follow in the footsteps of LeBron by winning the title that many anticipated, but it was a good table-setter for Tuesday and fun was had by all.