Ten years ago, it would have been nearly unthinkable for big men to participate in the skills challenge at All-Star Weekend. Fast forward to today, and not only are bigs like DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, and Karl-Anthony Towns participating in the event, they’re among the favorites to win it. Here’s the entire list of participants:
This year's Taco Bell Skills Challenge field will see some big men joining the guards pic.twitter.com/aiAoyXmi15
— TNT Sports U.S. PR (@TNTSportsUS) February 5, 2016
It’s not like the guards are short on talent. Isaiah Thomas, Patrick Beverley and CJ McCollum are certainly capable of winning the event. They’re faster than their big-men counterparts, so they at least have that edge.
But as far as actual skills are concerned, Green is probably the best passer of the entire group, and Cousins might even be second-best. Both of them have considerable handles, so that won’t be as much of an advantage as one might think. And that’s even before mentioning Davis, who was a lightly-recruited guard in high school before sprouting eight inches and growing into the superstar the basketball world knows today.
These specific big men, at least, are definitely capable of defeating their smaller counterparts in a skill-based competition.
In the end, it’ll probably come down to who’s the most accurate shooter. That would appear to benefit the guards, but stranger things have happened at All-Star weekend – and both Green and Towns are draining triples at near-elite clips, too.
