NBA ALL-STAR SKILLS CHALLENGE – RULES, RESULTS, AND RECORDS
- On Saturdays, in the All-Star Event almost each player has a chance to appear in the different contests and games: rookies, legends, leapers, shooters, women… so the NBA decided to create a new contest in 2003 for the playmakers.
- The NBA All-Star Skills Challenge is a timed obstacle course that includes dribbling, passing, and shooting stations.
- The Skills Challenge has been introduced in 2003 and the rules have changed for the contest starting 2015.
2019 Winner: Jayson Tatum
- The Skills Challenge was again played in knockout format. The field consisted of four tall and four shorter players, with both groups playing one finalist each.
- Due to an injury, Spencer Dinwiddie (BKN) was unable to defend his 2018 title.
- With a fantastic running 3-pointer from the mid-court line, Jayson Tatum (BOS) secured his victory over Trae Young (ATL) in the final round of the Skills Challenge.
.@jaytatum0's #TacoBellSkills winning half-court shot in #PhantomCam! pic.twitter.com/hzl5qVUi0I
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 17, 2019
Participants
- Mike Conley, MEM
- Luka Doncic, DAL
- De’Aaron Fox, SAC
- Nikola Jokic, DEN
- Kyle Kuzma, LAL
- Jayson Tatum, BOS
- Nikola Vucevic, ORL
- Trae Young, ATL
Round 1 | Semifinals | Final |
Jokic beats Vucevic | Tatum beats Jokic | Tatum beats Young |
Tatum beats Conley | Young beats Doncic | |
Young beats Fox | ||
Doncic beats Kuzma |
2018: Spencer Dinwiddie Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Third time lucky for the GUARDS. Thanks to Spencer Dinwiddie accuracy, finally they defeated the BIGS at the NBA All-Star Skills Challenge.
- Injured Kristaps Porzingis couldn’t defend his 2017 title.
Players | 1st Round | Semifinal | Final |
Spencer Dinwiddie | Dinwiddie | Dinwiddie | Dinwiddie |
Buddy Hield | |||
Lou Williams | Murray | ||
Jamal Murray | |||
*Andre Drummond | Markkanen | Markkanen | |
Lauri Markkanen | |||
Joel Embiid | Embiid | ||
Al Horford |
* Andre Drummond substituted Kristaps Porzingis (left knee injury)
* Buddy Hield substituted Donovan Mitchell (selected for the Slam Dunk Contest)
2017: Kristaps Porzingis Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Second edition of the battle of the BIGS against the GUARDS at the NBA All-Star Skills Challenge, second time the BIGS win.
- Kristaps Porzingis won the contest in his first appearance. After beating Jokic in semifinal with a very exciting three-pointer, he defeated Gordon Hayward the same way with a photo-finish ending.
Players | 1st Round | Semifinal | Final |
Gordon Hayward | Hayward | Hayward | Porzingis |
John Wall | |||
Isaiah Thomas | Thomas | ||
Devin Booker | |||
Anthony Davis | Jokic | Porzingis | |
Nikola Jokic * | |||
DeMarcus Cousins | Porzingis | ||
Kristaps Porzingis |
* Nikola Jokic substituted Joel Embiid (right knee injury)
2016: Karl-Anthony Towns Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Four point guards and four versatile big men, the first time in the history of the Skills Challenge that multiple non-guards competed.
- Towns is by far the taller player to win the contest. Isaiah Thomas and him really wanted to win the contest. They both made the chest pass at the first attempt and after missing a few three-pointers, Karl Anthony Towns won the ‘photo-finish’ ending.
Players | 1st Round | Semifinal | Final |
CJ McCollum | McCollum | Thomas | Towns |
Jordan Clarkson | |||
Isaiah Thomas | Thomas | ||
Emmanuel Mudiay * | |||
Draymond Green | Towns | Towns | |
Karl-Anthony Towns | |||
DeMarcus Cousins | Cousins | ||
Anthony Davis |
* Mudiay replaces last year winner Patrick Beverley.
2015: Patrick Beverley Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Beverley took the contest by surprise. He arrived as a substitute for John Wall, beat Isaiah Thomas with a last second layup, and in the last 2 rounds after some troubles with the passing station made a 3 pointer to defeat Jeff Teague and Brandon Knight.
- Click below on player each round winners names to see the videos
Players | 1st Round | Semifinal | Final |
Isaiah Thomas | Beverley | Beverley | Beverley |
Patrick Beverley* | |||
Jeff Teague | Teague | ||
Elfrid Payton* | |||
Trey Burke | Knight | Knight | |
Brandon Knight | |||
Kyle Lowry | Lowry | ||
Dennis Schroeder* |
*Patrick Beverley, Elfrid Payton and Dennis Schroeder substituted respectively John Wall, Michael Carter-Williams and Jimmy Butler.
2014: Damian Lillard & Trey Burke Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Damian Lillard won his second consecutive title (third player to do it after Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade) in a different competition format. Players competed in pairs, completing the course both players. Passing stations were shortened from three passes to a single chest pass.
- There were four players from East conference and four more from West conference. The pairs with the highest score from each conference after the first round competed on the final.
Players | 1st Round | Final |
Trey Burke | 40.6 sec. | 45.2 sec. |
Damian Lillard | ||
Michael Carter-Williams | 43.3 sec. | 45.3 sec. |
Victor Oladipo | ||
Giannis Antetokounmpo | 45.0 sec. | |
DeMar DeRozan | ||
Goran Dragic | 42.3 sec. | |
Reggie Jackson |
2013: Damian Lillard Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
- Blazers rookie Damian Lillard got a big win, becoming the first player with 2 marks under 30 seconds in the same contest.
- The players with the highest score from each conference after the first round will compete head-to-head on the final. Tony Parker lost his chances missing all the shot from the top of the key, and there were some laughs when Jeff Teague missed a layup.
Players | 1st Round | Final |
Damian Lillard | 28.8 sec. | 29.8 sec. |
Jrue Holiday | 29.3 sec. | 35.6 sec. |
Brandon Knight | 32.2 sec. | |
Jeremy Lin | 35.8 sec. | |
Tony Parker | 48.7 sec. | |
Jeff Teague | 49.4 sec. |
2012: Tony Parker
- Tony Parker needed 3 attempts to win this contest. That was the first time two players had to make a tiebreaker round to advance to the final.
- Also, it was the first contest with 3 players with less than 30 seconds scores, all of them in the first round.
Players | 1st Round | Final |
Tony Parker | 29.2 sec. | 32.8 sec. |
Rajon Rondo * | 32.8 sec. | 34.6 sec. |
Deron Williams | 28.3 sec. | 41.4 sec. |
John Wall * | 32.8 sec. | |
Russell Westbrook | 33.8 sec. | |
Kyrie Irving | 42.2 sec. |
* Tie-breaker: Rajon Rondo 27.5 seconds and John Wall 45.4 seconds.
2011: Stephen Curry Watch Skills Challenge Recap from NBA.com
Players | 1st Round | Final |
Stephen Curry | 34.1 sec. | 28.2 sec. |
Russell Westbrook | 30.0 sec. | 44.2 sec. |
Derrick Rose | 35.7 sec. | |
John Wall | 39.3 sec. | |
Chris Paul | 42.7 sec. |
- 4 of the best point guards of the NBA were ready to inaugurate this contest and get the title of most complete point guard.
- In the first round, each one of the 4 players improved the best time, arriving to the final two Oakland players: Gary Payton and Jason Kidd, with the best time for Payton.
- In the final, Kidd almost repeated his semifinals time and it seemed that Payton would be the winner, but the Sonics player needed 5 second more than Kidd to complete all the stations.
Players | 1st Round | Final |
Gary Payton | 31.3 sec. | 35.1 sec. |
Jason Kidd | 35.3 sec. | 40.3 sec. |
Stephon Marbury | 41.9 sec. | |
Tony Parker | 45.5 sec. |
- In the new format, which was introduced with the 2015 edition, there is no longer a timekeeper and players compete in a head-to-head against each other.
- The below rankings relate to the NBA Skills Challenge contests from 2003-2014.
Fastest Players
Players | Round | Year | Time |
Deron Williams | Final | 2008 | 25,5 sec. |
Dwyane Wade | Final | 2006 | 26.1 sec. |
Dwyane Wade | Final | 2007 | 26.4 sec. |
Rajon Rondo | 1st Round | 2012 | 27.5 sec. |
Stephen Curry | Final | 2011 | 28.2 sec. |
Deron Williams | 1st Round | 2012 | 28.3 sec. |
Baron Davis | 1st Round | 2004 | 28.7 sec. |
Damian Lillard | 1st Round | 2013 | 28.8 sec. |
Tony Parker | 1st Round | 2012 | 29.2 sec. |
Jrue Holiday | 1st Round | 2013 | 29.3 sec. |
Kobe Bryant | 1st Round | 2007 | 29.8 sec. |
Damian Lillard | Final | 2013 | 29.8 sec. |
Chris Paul | 1st Round | 2008 | 29.9 sec. |
Steve Nash | Final | 2010 | 29.9 sec. |
Worst Times
Players | Round | Year | Time |
Dwyane Wade | 1st Round | 2008 | 53.9 sec. |
Steve Nash | 1st Round | 2006 | 52.8 sec. |
Gilbert Arenas | 1st Round | 2005 | 51.7 sec. |
Tony Parker | 1st Round | 2009 | 50.8 sec. |
Skills Challenge rules since 2015
- The contest had a format change in 2015. The competition now consists in a bracket where two players will compete face to face each time without timekeeper.
- There is also a big change on the different challenges of the contest. After the dribbling, pass and layup, each player has to make another layup on the opposite rim and come back to make a three shot to finish the lap.
Skills Challenge rules 2003-2014
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1. First of all a layup. |
2. Easy zigzag dribbling. |
3 and 4. Put the ball in a basket making a ‘normal’ pass and a bounce pass. |
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5. Score from the top of the key |
6. Another pass like station 3. |
7. Zigzag dribbling. |
8. Another layup to finish. |