SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Paul has put together a Hall of Fame career without Hall of Fame athleticism, largely due to his relentless competitive nature and shrewd basketball mind. During Saturday night’s NBA Skills Challenge, however, Paul’s gamesmanship — along with that of teammate Victor Wembanyama — cost them dearly.
Team Spurs, comprised of Paul and Wemby, went first in the competition, and unveiled their strategy to cut down their time. After bounce passes and a chest pass through a moving target, both players were required to shoot a 3-pointer from the wing, a jumper from the elbow and a 3-pointer from the corner in front of a spinning windmill. After three missed attempts, players are allowed to advance to the next obstacle.
Wembanyama was the first to go, and when he got to his first 3-pointer, he simply tossed all three balls off the rack toward the rim without even looking. He did the same for the free throw and the corner 3-pointer, making it clear that he and Paul felt this strategy would cut down their time.
By the time Paul went, the crowd was hip to their strategy and started booing the lack of genuine effort. Paul is no stranger to getting booed, but this has to be the first time it’s ever happened during the Skills Challenge.
Shortly after their turn ended, it was announced that Team Spurs was disqualified for failing to make a “valid effort” on their jump shots. Paul was later seen on the sideline receiving an explanation from an NBA representative, who presumably confirmed that they had, indeed, circumvented the rules. Later, Wembanyama said that the plan was his idea.
“If they weren’t disqualified, I think we probably would have just did the same thing to be honest with you,” said Donovan Mitchell of Team Cavs, who ended up winning the competition. “Play to win, I guess.”
Mitchell’s teammate, Evan Mobley, pushed the limits with a modified flat-footed jumper in his first round, but abandoned the plan after he didn’t get the desired results.
“I feel like my first round I tried to do a similar thing but made it look like a real shot,” Mobley said. “But that didn’t work really well, so I switched up my strategy.”
We’ve seen players give less than optimal effort in the Skills Challenge before — last year, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, a righty, shot his 3-pointers with his left hand — but we’ve never seen such a blatant effort to manipulate the competition in order to win.
