SI

Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul Disqualified From Skills Challenge for Exploiting Rules

You don't see this every day.

Tim Capurso

Wembanyama on the court during the NBA All Star-Practice at Oracle Arena.
Wembanyama on the court during the NBA All Star-Practice at Oracle Arena. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
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In a surprise to start the night on Saturday, San Antonio Spurs stars Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified from the Skills Challenge after the duo attempted to exploit a loophole in the competition's rules.

The Skills Challenge course features a couple of circular obstacles that a player must pass the basketball through, shooting racks where the player must, in theory, drain a shot before advancing to the next station, then a speed portion at the end where the player must finish at the rim after dribbling several paces.

Both Wembanyama and Paul decided to test the theory that a shot actually had to be made, as both Spurs players chucked up wild attempts at the shooting racks before quickly completing the other portions of the course.

Here's the amusing video.

At first, play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan and color commentator Reggie Miller seemed to think that the Spurs players had stumbled upon genius. But the fans, who booed, and the NBA, didn't think so, as an official informed the Spurs duo that they had been disqualified.

Paul was not happy, and attempted to dispute the league's disqualification.

At one point, the TNT broadcast even showed an NBA official letting Paul read what appeared to be a list of rules for the competition.

Adding to the intrigue:

Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers eventually won the competition, after which the former was asked if Paul and Wembanyama's strategy was genius or a cheating move.

After crediting the Spurs stars for playing to win, Mitchell admitted he felt the interesting gameplan was cheating.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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