The skills competition on NBA All-Star Saturday Night has long been the opening act for the headliners that are the three-point shootout and dunk contest, but this year that may change.
The dunk contest features some incredible high flyers and might provide as much if not more excitement than last year’s epic battle, but the skills competition is going to deserve plenty of the spotlight thanks to the influx of big men.
Last year’s champion Karl-Anthony Towns has ushered in a new era of the NBA skills competition, as it is no longer the domain of small point guards doing point guard things. That’s not really an impressive thing to watch. What is impressive is watching a 7-foot tall behemoth flash the handles and passing ability.
This year, we have an amazing field, headlined by everyone’s favorite big man Joel Embiid as well as the Knicks’ budding superstar Kristaps Porzingis, Kings’ star center DeMarcus Cousins and Pelicans big man Anthony Davis to represent the home team. In total, the split this year is four true bigs, one small forward (Gordon Hayward) and three guards (Devin Booker, John Wall and Isaiah Thomas).
For an event that’s long struggled to get out of the shadows of the three-point shootout and dunk contest, Embiid and the other bigs are going to bring some shine and excitement to the skills competition. If the competition ends up being as fun as we expect, it has a chance at being the most entertaining event of the night.
