Brandon Knight selected for Skills Challenge on NBA All-Star Saturday Night
By Dan Feldman
Brandon Knight was selected for the Skills Challenge on NBA All-Star Saturday Night. Here’s the full field:
- Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers
- Jeff Teague, Atlanta Hawks
- Brandon Knight, Detroit Pistons
- Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers
- Jeremy Lin, Houston Rockets
- Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs
The Skills Challenge is an obstacle course that includes dribbling, pass and shooting tests.
Knight will be in Houston, anyway, and the skills challenge lacks the prestige of the 3-point contest and dunk contest, which don’t exactly line up high-profile contestants themselves.
But – how do I put this delicately? – Knight seems like a less-than-optimum choice for this event. Sure, he’s fast, but he’s the only selection who’s not a full-time point guard. And there’s a reason for that. He often struggles with the ball-handling and passing skills the Challenge highlights.
Knight could do well – and as a Pistons fan, I hope he does – but his success would be based on a small sample rather than having a real skills advantage over players like Parker and Lillard.