Shams Charania just reported some interesting new developments in the NBA All-Star Weekend’s programming. During the NBA All-Star Skills Challenge, a team of young former number-one Draft picks is going to take on an Indiana Pacers trio. In this blockbuster announcement, young stars Anthony Edwards, Paolo Banchero, and Victor Wembanyama are going to team up to constitute the #1 picks team.
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A three-way competition in the Skills Challenge is a first and quite peculiarly, there is no Point Guard in the Ant-Wemby-Banchero combination. However, considering strict positioning roles are slowly disappearing from the NBA, there should be no strict requirement for a traditional PG in a three-a-side game. Moreover, any of the three can run the point as a floor general if needed.
On his Fan Duel-powered Run It Back pod, Charania touched upon this new concept of skills challenge and also revealed the trio’s likely rivals, who will hail from the host team, the Indiana Pacers.
“There is an interesting team that’s developing for the Skills Challenge. It’s an All-Indiana team, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, Bennedict Mathurin, that’s gonna comprise the team for the All-Star Skills Challenge. They’re also gonna be playing against a team led by Victor Wembanyama,” Shams Charania told co-host Michelle Beadle.
This is the first time that an All-Star Skills Challenge will have a team-wise competition. In the yesteryear competitions, there were separate rounds for big men and guards. The winner of the respective rounds competed in the Finals. However, the NBA is planning to turn this into a team-based competition. While the Pacers trio is complementary, considering Haliburton’s top-notch passing, Mathurin’s creativity, and Myles Turner’s big-man shooting chops, the Wemby-squad has an odd mix.
Banchero, Wembaynama, and Edwards can create their shots, but none of them are pass-first players. However, at 7’4”, Wemby has showcased some terrific dribbling moves as attested by his Shammgod wonder. Meanwhile, Edwards is an all-purpose scorer and ball-handler whereas Banchero is one of the most versatile players out there. With this concept, the 2024 All-Star continues to throw curveballs at fans. The teaming up of the 2020, 2022, and 2023 NBA Drafts’ #1 picks will surely add to the intrigue of the already thrilling event.
An experimental All-Star affair
Apart from this novel concept of a Skills Challenge trio face-off, one other peculiar event that has garnered a lot of attention is a standalone three-point competition. WNBA’s magical shooter Sabrina Ionescu is set to square off against the NBA’s best three-point shooter of all time, Stephen Curry. This face-off is the first time that a three-point competition is occurring in the cross-league format. Considering Ionescu’s 37-point mark in the WNBA Three-Point Competition and Steph’s 31 being the highest in the NBA, it will be an intriguing matchup.
While Ionescu will use her WNBA’s 6-size basketball, Curry will naturally shoot with the NBA’s 7-size ball. The WNBA’s premier shooter had the chance to shoot from 20 feet 6 inches, which is the WNBA’s three-point distance. However, Ionescu has decided to compete from the NBA three-point range of 23 feet 9 inches. The two will follow the Starry Three-Point contest rules. Under this, there will be four racks with four-game balls, in addition to a money ball, two money racks, and two ‘Starry range” balls. A game ball is worth 1 point, a money ball worth 2, while the starry range shot fetches 3 points.
