Thanks for checking out the “Rising Stars” picks we made. Here’s the next crop.
The Skills Challenge puts up the best of the best ball handlers and most skilled players up against eachother as they go through an obstacle course of events in the fastest time to see who is the most skilled.
It started in the 2003 All-Star Weekend when Jason Kidd won the inaugural event. Damian Lillard, Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade have all won it 2 times. Tony Parker and Chris Paul have the most appearance in it with 4 appearance each but Parker has only won it once and Paul has never won. Deron Williams has the fastest single time at 25.5 seconds.
Last year, the format expanded to 4 teams of 2 players, 8 contestants in total.
The current champions are Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers and Trey Burke of the Utah Jazz, who ended the 2014 competition with a time of 45.2 seconds, 0.1 second ahead of Michael Carter-Williams and Victor Oladipo.
Enough of the history lesson, time to get into the players and the contest itself. All teams and different setups were picked by some of the Def Pen Sports Staff and one special guest as well based on what they think the format should be!
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Charlie Taylor (@ChilliCharlieRT)
West:
Damian Lillard
Dante Exum
Zach LaVine
Ty Lawson
East:
Elfrid Payton
Michael Carter-Williams
Jeff Teague
Kyrie Irving
WINNER: Damian Lillard
Def Pen Sports Sneaker Writer/Aficionado, Delly Ralph (@PoundSignDead)
West:
Chris Paul
Damian Lillard
Jamal Crawford
Darren Collison
East:
Kyrie Irving
Kyle Lowry
Kemba Walker
John Wall
WINNER: John Wall
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Esfandiar Baraheni (@ESBaraheni)
East:
Brandon Knight
Jeff Teague
Victor Oladipo
John Wall
West:
Damian Lillard
Goran Dragic
Mike Conley
Jrue Holiday
Winner: Brandon Knight
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Kyle Spinner (@K_spinz)
East:
Team 1: Michael Carter-Williams & Giannis Antetokounmpo
Team 2: Jeff Teague & John Wall
West:
Team 1: Eric Bledsoe & Zach LaVine
Team 2: Ty Lawson & Kyle Anderson
WINNER:Team 2: Jeff Teague & John Wall
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Martin Soaries (@marley_mcfly)
Kyrie Irving
John Wall
Rajon Rondo
Jamal Crawford
Chris Paul
Kemba Walker
Jeff Teague
Mike Conley
WINNER: Kemba Walker
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Rob Lopez (@r0bato)
East:
Team 1: Victor Oladipo & Kyrie Irving
Team 2: Kemba Walker & Brandon Knight
West:
Team 1: Anthony Davis & Stephen Curry
Team 2: Damian Lillard & Jamal Crawford
Winner: Anthony Davis & Stephen Curry
Def Pen Sports NFL Writer, Trey Daubert (@….Trey thinks it’s 2007 so he doesn’t have a twitter)
East:
Michael Carter-Williams
Marcus Smart
Brandon Knight
Greivis Vazquez
West:
Damian Lillard
Dante Exum
Trey Burke
Stephen Curry
Winner: Stephen Curry
