NBA Skills Challenge
NBA All-Star Weekend | Feb. 14, 2009
 Chicago Bulls rookie point guard Derrick Rose beat out Devin Harris, Mo Williams and Tony Parker to win the 2009 NBA Skills Challenge contest.
The NBA Skills Challenge competition is full court obstacle course. Players compete as individuals. They must hit a layup, dribble down the court around obstacles, pass the ball into a target, hit a jumper from the top of the key, pass the ball into another target, and go all the way back down the court and score.
Here's the 2009 NBA Skills Challenge competition recap; these are raw, unedited notes taken live as the event happened:
Devin Harris went first. He hit the opening layup, dribbled, blew a few target passes, missed once from teh top of the key, missed another target pass, and dribbled in for a layup, finishing at 36.9 seconds.
Mo Williams went second. He dribbled fairly slowly, and missed several target passes (though an ill-positioned ballboy delayed Williams by maybe two seconds), hit the jumper, missed another few target passes, and glided down the court for a decent finish.
Derrick Rose went third and was perfect until he missed a jumper from the top of the key, but was terrific the rest of the way through, though he too ran fairly slowly down the court while dribbling around the obstacles. He finished in 33.3 seconds, good for first place so far.
Tony Parker went fourth. He hit the opening layup, dribbled downcourt, but blew two target passes, then one more, then missed multiple jumpers from the top of the key, and didn't finish until 50.8 seconds, an awful display. Clearly the Spurs should cut him, and sign InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner instead.
So, Harris and Rose reach the 2009 NBA Skills Challenge comptition finals.
Devin Haris was moving much faster in the second round, missing a fwe target passes, then blowing three jumpers from teh top of the key, finishing at 39.7 seconds.
Rose didn't fly down the court, but nailed the targeted passes, only missed one top-of-key jumper, missed a targeted pass, and instead of merely laying it up Rose rose up and threw down a nasty, double-clutch dunk to easily win the 2009 NBA Skills Challenge championship.
NBA Skills Challenge preview
A new NBA Skills Challenge champion will be crowned as the New Jersey Nets’ Devin Harris, the Orlando Magic’s Jameer Nelson, the San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose will take the floor on Feb. 14, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at US Airways Center in Phoenix.
The NBA All-Star Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and consists of four players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals with the order of competition determined by inverse order of the first round times. At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.
A first-time NBA All-Star, Harris, who paces the Nets in scoring (21.5 ppg), assists (6.4 apg) and steals (1.7 spg), is one of only five players averaging at least 21.0 points and 6.0 assists.
Another first-time All-Star, Nelson is averaging a career-high 17.0 points, while shooting .506 from the field and .456 from beyond the arc.
Rose, a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year honors and a participant this year’s Rookie Challenge on Feb. 13, paces rookies and is among the league leaders in assists (6.3 apg); he ranks second among first-year players in scoring (16.7 ppg).
Parker, an All-Star for the third time and a participant in the inaugural Skills Challenge in 2003, became only the second player in NBA history to record at least 55 points, 10 assists and five rebounds when he did it Nov. 5 at Minnesota, joining Oscar Robertson.
Last year in New Orleans, Utah’s Deron Williams covered the course in a record 25.5 seconds in the second round to capture the title.
2009 NBA ALL-STAR SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS
Participant, Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Devin Harris, New Jersey Nets G 6-3 185
Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic G 6-0 190
Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs G 6-2 180
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls G 6-3 190
PAST NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE WINNERS HISTORY
2003 – Jason Kidd, New Jersey
2004 – Baron Davis, New Orleans
2005 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2007 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2008 – Deron Williams, Utah
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LAST YEAR'S NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE EVENT
Feb. 16, 2008
It’s 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend and the Saturday Night events are on. Now up is the Skills Challenge competition. Scroll down to see the event preview/overview.
Deron Williams went first, missing a straight-in pass and one of the top-of-the-key shots, finishing in 31.2 seconds.
Jason Kidd went second and was flawless until shooting the top of the key shot, which he missed five times (after five misses a player can stop shooting and continue with the course), finishing in 39.7 seconds.
Chris Paul was up net, missing a bounce pass, but otherwise running the whole course perfectly, flying in at 29.0 seconds.
Last up was Dwyane Wade, who fumbled the ball during the obstacle-dribble in the beginning and had to go chase it, then missed three from the top of the key and quickly fired the next two up just to get through it, blew some passes, and slowly dribbled to the end, but then missed the layup, and missed the follow, for a disgustingly awful performance of 53.9 seconds.
CP3 and D-Will advance to the second and final round.
In the final round, D-Will went first. He dunked the first shot, ran the dribbling, hit the straight-in pass, and the bounce pass, swished the top-of-the-key jumper, hit the next straight-on pass, and ended it with a dunk, finishing with in terrific 25.5 seconds time, setting the all-time record best time for this event.
Paul is up and has to be virtually perfect for a shot at winning. He hit the first layup, dribbled the obstacles, missed the first straight-on pass, hit the bounce pass, missed once from the top of the key, hit the last straight-on pass, and hit the layup, getting 31.2 seconds — a respectable time but D-Will wins it with a brilliant performance.
PREVIEW: 2008 NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITION
Feb. 16, 2008
The Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade will defend his PlayStation Skills Challenge title against three of the league’s biggest stars on Feb. 16, as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at New Orleans Arena in New Orleans. The competitors hoping to deny Wade’s quest for his third consecutive title are the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul, the New Jersey Nets’ Jason Kidd and the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams.
The Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and consists of four players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals with the order of competition determined by inverse order of the first round times. At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.
Wade, who defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James in the finals of the 2006 Skills Challenge in Houston, and bested the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant last year in Las Vegas, ranks fifth in the NBA in scoring, averaging 24.5 points. Paul, a competitor in the 2006 Skills Challenge in Houston, leads the league in steals (2.5) and is second in the league in assists (10.9). Kidd, champion of the inaugural Skills Challenge in 2003, ranks third in the NBA in assists with 10.4 per game. Williams, a first-time competitor in the Skills challenge, is fourth in the league in assists, averaging 9.6.
The Skills Challenge will be televised live nationally as part of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night, which will also feature the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, Sprite Slam Dunk and Haier Shooting Stars. TNT and ESPN Radio’s national coverage will begin at 8 p.m. EST from New Orleans Arena. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
2008 SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS
Participant, Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets G 6-4 210
Chris Paul, New Orleans Hornets G 6-0 175
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat G 6-4 216
Deron Williams, Utah Jazz G 6-3 205
NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE HISTORY: YEAR-BY-YEAR WINNERS
2003 – Jason Kidd, New Jersey
2004 – Baron Davis, New Orleans
2005 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2007 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
2007 NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE RECAP
Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will defend his PlayStation Skills Challenge title against three of the league’s biggest stars on Feb. 17 as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The competitors hoping to deny Wade’s quest for a repeat are the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the New Orleans Hornets' Chris Paul. Originally scheduled was Steve Nash, but he is hurt. Paul was his replacement.
LIVE 2007 NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE NOTES:
LeBron, rocking gold LeBron sneakers, went first. He nailed dribbled rather slowly, nailed the passes, did fairly well on the shots, but for some weird reason moved slowly throughout, finishing in 35.4 seconds.
Chris Paul went second. He hit the layup, also ran rather slowly, missed a few of the passes, a shot or two, struggled again on the other passes, and finished in 39.6.
What's with these dudes? They're casually jogging instead of running.
Kobe Bryant was third. Like the others, Kobe slowly jogged around, nailing everything, moving just a bit faster than LeBron, finishing with 29.8, the best time so far.
Dwyane Wade is going to have to beat LeBron's time in order to reach the finals to face Kobe.
Wade moved at a pace similar to Kobe, did well, finished in 31.3 seconds, good for second place and a spot in the finals.
And now in the second and final round, Kobe vs. D-Wade. Wade went first, started slightly faster than anyone else so far and barely missed, finishing in 26.4 seconds. It's all up to Kobe.
Wade then sat next to LeBron, discussing what went down.
Kobe also went a bit faster, but then missed his first four pass attempts into the cylinder, essentially losing the contest right there. And then slowed down the rest of the way, knowing Wade had won. Kobe even missed the final layup and had to rebound the miss and put it in, finishing in over 45 seconds.
Wade wins, the first back-to-back Skills Challenge champion.
NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE PREVIEW
The NBA Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and consists of four players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals with the order of competition determined by inverse order of the first round times. At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.
Wade, who defeated James in the finals of the 2006 NBA Skills Challenge in Houston, is tied with Bryant for third in the NBA in scoring, averaging 28.4 points per game. Nash, who won the event in 2005 in Denver, currently leads the league in assists with 11.8 per game. James, who was the leading vote-getter for this year’s All-Star game, is seventh in the league in scoring at 27.2 points per game.
The NBA Skills Challenge will be televised live nationally as part of the NBA All-Star Saturday Night. TNT and ESPN Radio’s national coverage will begin at 8 p.m. EST from the Thomas & Mack Center. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 18, will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
Below are the participants for the 2007 NBA Skills Challenge:
2007 NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS
Participant, Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (G, 6-6, 220)
LeBron James, Cleveland (F, 6-8, 240)
Steve Nash, Phoenix (G, 6-3, 195) - INJURED
Dwyane Wade, Miami (G, 6-4, 212)
PLAYSTATION SKILLS CHALLENGE YEAR-BY-YEAR WINNERS
2003 – Jason Kidd, New Jersey
2004 – Baron Davis, New Orleans
2005 – Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006 – Dwyane Wade, Miami
NBA SKILLS CHALLENGE RULES
Four players will compete in a two-round timed “obstacle course” event consisting of dribbling, passing & shooting stations.
- Two rounds of competition - The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals.
- Players will be timed on a clock starting at 00:00.0. The clock stops when the final shot is made. (Start and Stop is on ref’s whistle)
- Players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course.
- The three passing and the “top of the key” shooting challenges are considered completed (player can move on) when he either (1) successfully hits the target/makes the shot OR (2) exhausts the corresponding rack of balls at the target/basket.
- For the opening layup and the final shot, the player must rebound his own ball until the basket is made.
- In the case of a tie in either round (times will be to the tenth of a second), the tied players will repeat the course.
- Players are subject to disqualification (at the final discretion and judgment of the NBA referee) for failure to attempt all of the challenges as they are designed and intended to be completed.
- Order of competition in the Finals is determined by inverse order of First Round times.
- There are no “time penalty” assessments.
INSTANT REPLAY – At the discretion of the referee, TV instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.
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