Devin Booker to compete in the 2017 NBA All-Star Skills Challenge
Feb 2, 2017, 6:15 PM
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, right, drives to the net as Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris defends in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, in Denver. The Nuggets won 127-120. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker will pull double-duty during All-Star weekend on Feb. 17-19.
The second-year pro was already named to the Rising Stars Challenge on that Friday, but now he’s officially entered into the Skills Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 18, where he will compete against a field of eight others in a bracket-style format.
Booker will go through the skills course — there is passing, shooting and dribbling — along with Washington’s John Wall, Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, Utah’s Gordon Hayward, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans’ Anthony Davis and New York’s Kristaps Porzingis.
Presenting your 2017 #TacoBellSkills participants! #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/CZkiT60QLp
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 3, 2017
Notably, Booker was absent from the invite list for the three-point contest after coming in third place — behind Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — a year ago. He is shooting 36 percent from three this year.
Suns rookie Marquese Chriss will join Booker in the Rising Stars game a day before the latter hits the skills course. Later on Saturday night, those two can sit back and watch as rookie teammate Derrick Jones Jr. squares off with last year’s runner-up, Aaron Gordon, in the NBA Dunk Contest, along with DeAndre Jordan and the Pacers’ Glenn Robinson III.
