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Chris Paul thought he figured out a way to skirt the rules of the NBA All-Star 2025 Skills Challenge, but he and his San Antonio Spurs teammate Victor Wembanyama were disqualified for their shenanigans.
The final stage of the three-part Skills Challenge involves shooting, but to get through the relay with as fast a time as possible, Wembanyama and Paul didn’t actually shoot the balls from the rack. Instead, they flung the balls quickly toward the basket, not engaging in any sort of shooting motion.
TNT broadcasters Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller quickly zeroed in on Paul for being the mastermind, which wasn’t a bad guess considering he’s a 20-year NBA veteran. However, Wembanyama said afterward that not shooting was his idea, according to Draymond Green. Wembanyama also apparently claimed that he ran his hack by several NBA executives, who said it was all right.
The other two stages of the Challenge involve dribbling and passing drills. The tiebreaker is a half-court shootout. What did Paul and Wembanyama have in mind for that?
Team Spurs was booed by the fans at the Chase Center and received disapproval from their fellow competitors for trying to circumvent the rules and get through the relay quickly. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was seen giving the Spurs duo a thumbs-down — two thumbs-down, actually — for their attempt to create a loophole.
wemby looks genuinely sick over getting disqualified and CP3 looks like the kid who talked his little brother into cheating on a test only for him to immediately get caught pic.twitter.com/OtbxK8x4Di
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) February 16, 2025
The three other teams involved in the Challenge were Team Cavs (Mitchell with Evan Mobley), Team Warriors (Green and Moses Moody) and Team Rooks (Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher). Honestly, with scandal affecting the competition, wouldn’t Green have been suspected as the culprit? Maybe he should have been allowed to mete out justice to his one-time teammate.
Paul tried to plead his case and get the disqualification overturned, but with no success. Will his actions end up ruining the All-Star Skills Challenge? If so, perhaps it’s time to revisit a H-O-R-S-E competition. Those shots would actually have to go in.
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