The San Antonio Spurs pairing of Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified from the Skills Challenge at the 2025 NBA All-Star event for attempting to exploit a loophole and gain a competitive edge.
The Spurs duo created a stir during the shooting segment by hastily dumping balls onto the court instead of taking proper shots, drawing loud boos from the Chase Arena audience.
However, their plan was swiftly foiled when an NBA official emerged with a rule book, pointing out that participants must make legitimate shot attempts.
The Skills Challenge requires players to take shots from three different locations and participants must either make one to advance or take three valid attempts before moving on to the next station.
Wembanyama and Paul had tried to fast-track their way through the course by simply tossing the balls from the racks.
Wembanyama revealed that he concocted the unconventional strategy but was unaware it would result in disqualification. “I mean, we had the best time,” he contended. “Numbers speak for themselves.”
However, Wembanyama was not disheartened by the failure and expressed confidence that he would have many more chances to claim the title in the future.
The competition ultimately went to Team Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell, who edged out Team Warriors’ Draymond Green and Moses Moody in the final round.
Interestingly, Mitchell confessed that he and Mobley might have emulated Wembanyama and Paul’s tactic had it been deemed acceptable.
“If they weren’t disqualified, I think we probably would have just did the same thing to be honest with you,” he admitted. “Play to win, I guess.
“I feel like my first round I tried to do a similar thing but made it look like a real shot. But that didn’t work really well, so I switched up my strategy.”
In the thrilling All-Star Saturday events, Miami Heat’s sharpshooter Tyler Herro snatched the 3-Point Shooting Contest title from Milwaukee Bucks’ ace Damian Lillard.
Following that, Mac McClung wowed the crowd and secured his third consecutive Slam Dunk Contest victory, making him the sole player in NBA history to achieve this three-peat.
