Tony Parker To Defend Title in All-Star Skills Competition

NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2013 – Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs will defend his Taco Bell® Skills Challenge title against a field consisting of Jrue Holiday of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, Jeremy Lin of the Houston Rockets, and Jeff Teague of the Atlanta Hawks. The 2013 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge will take place on Feb. 16, at Toyota Center in Houston as part of State Farm All-Star Saturday Night.

Parker will attempt to join the Los Angeles Lakers’ Steve Nash (2005 and 2010) and the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade (2006 and 2007) as the only two-time winners in Taco Bell® Skills Challenge history. This year’s Taco Bell® Skills Challenge features an expanded six-player field for the second year in a row. There were five contestants in 2011 and four in 2010.

For the first time, State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will feature a new format that pits the Eastern Conference against the Western Conference in a night of competition that will raise money for charity. As part of the new format, points earned by each conference throughout the four All-Star Skills Competitions will determine the conference that earns the title of 2013 State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Champion. 

Three players representing the Western Conference and three players representing the Eastern Conference will compete in the two-round competition. The two competitors with the fastest times from their respective conferences in the Team Round advance to the Championship Round. (Complete rules for the 2013 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night attached).

This is the fourth year Taco Bell has offered the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens experience for teens at the Taco Bell Skills Challenge. In partnership with NBA Cares and the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, each Taco Bell Skills Challenge player will be paired with an All-Star teen from a Houston area Boys & Girls Club who has shown outstanding leadership and determination to stay in school despite personal obstacles. All participating teens will receive the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens experience of a lifetime: a behind-the-scenes career tour of NBA All-Star; an opportunity to meet with NBA players; the chance to be on the court during the Taco Bell Skills Challenge to cheer on their NBA player; and an educational scholarship. At the conclusion of this event, $55,000 in educational scholarships will be awarded to the participating All-Star teens. The teen paired with the winning Taco Bell Skills Challenge player will receive a $25,000 educational scholarship.

The Taco Bell Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and features six players competing in a two-round timed “obstacle course” consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. All players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course.

State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will also feature the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest; the Sears Shooting Stars; and the Sprite Slam Dunk contest. The NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in 215 countries and will be broadcast in 47 languages.

Below are the participants for the 2013 Taco Bell Skills Challenge:

 

EASTERN CONFERENCE 2013 TACO BELL SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS

Participant, Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers G 6-4 180
Jeff Teague, Atlanta Hawks G 6-2 181
Brandon Knight, Detroit Pistons G 6-3 190

 

WESTERN CONFERENCE 2013 TACO BELL SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS

Participant, Team Pos. Ht. Wt.
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers G 6-3 195
Jeremy Lin, Houston Rockets G 6-3 200
Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs G 6-2 185
 

TACO BELL SKILLS CHALLENGE YEAR-BY-YEAR WINNERS

2003 – Jason Kidd, New Jersey

2004 – Baron Davis, New Orleans

2005 – Steve Nash, Phoenix

2006 – Dwyane Wade, Miami

2007 – Dwyane Wade, Miami

2008 – Deron Williams, Utah

2009 – Derrick Rose, Chicago

2010 – Steve Nash, Phoenix

2011 – Stephen Curry, Golden State

2012 – Tony Parker, San Antonio

About the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens

The Taco Bell Foundation, Inc., also known as the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens (TBFT), a non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation, is committed to addressing the growing number of high school dropouts in the U.S. by providing at-risk youth with mentors and real-world experiences that will motivate them to stay in school and achieve more in life. Since 1992, TBFT has donated more than $30 million to support teen programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of America and other teen-serving organizations with the help of on-going customer, franchisee and employee donations. For more information about TBFT, visit www.graduatetogo.co and find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GraduateToGo.

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2013 Taco Bell Skills Challenge

SIX COMPETITORS – Three players representing the Eastern Conference and three representing the Western Conference will compete in a two-round timed obstacle course competition consisting of dribbling, passing, & shooting.

COMPETITION FORMAT

  •   OPENING LAYUP/DUNK AND FINAL SHOT CHALLENGES - For the opening layup/dunk and the final shot, the player must rebound his own ball until the basket is made*.
    • PASSING/SHOOTING CHALLENGES - The three passing and the top of the key shooting challenges are considered completed (player can move on) when he either (1) successfully hits the target/makes the shot OR (2) exhausts the corresponding rack of balls while attempting to make the target/basket*.
  •   BALL HANDLING - Players must observe basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course.

  •   DISQUALIFICATION - Players are subject to disqualification for failure to complete all of the challenges as they are designed and intended to be run through (at the final discretion/judgment of the referee).

  •   There are no time penalty assessments on the course.
    • INSTANT REPLAY – At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.

    *See Skills Challenge “Flow of Play” document for more information.

    TIMING

    • Players will be timed on a clock starting at 00:00.0 and counting up.  The clock will be stopped when the final shot is made. (Start and Stop is on referee’s whistle)

    TEAM ROUND



  •   The three Eastern Conference players will compete first, followed by the three West players.

  •   The three Eastern Conference players will have their times added together to get a TOTAL time.

  •  The three Western Conference players will have their times added together to get a TOTAL time.

  •   30 POINTS will be awarded to the conference with the fastest TOTAL time after the Team Round.

  •   The East player with the fastest time advances to the Championship Round.

  •   The West player with the fastest time advances to the Championship Round.

    CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND



  •   The fastest East competitor and fastest West competitor from the Team Round will compete head-to-head.

  •  The player with the slower Team Round time will go first for the Championship Round.

  •   The player with the fastest Championship Round time will be crowned the Skills Challenge Champion.

  •   10 POINTS will be awarded to the conference of the competition champion.

    TIEBREAKERS



  •   TEAM ROUND - In the event both conferences achieve the same TOTAL time, the 30 points for the Team Round will be split evenly (15 points awarded to each conference).

  •   To Advance from Team Round - In the event of a tie amongst conference players to determine the Championship Round participant, the tied players will repeat the course.
    • To Determine Champion - In the case of a tie between the two players in the Championship Round, the tied players will repeat the course.

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    State Farm All-Star Saturday Night

    WESTERN CONFERENCE VS. EASTERN CONFERENCE

    State Farm All-Star Saturday Night will be an event pitting West vs. East in four competitions: Sears Shooting Stars, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest and Sprite Slam Dunk.

    CHARITIES

    Each conference will be competing for two charities, with $350,000 going to the winning conference’s charities and $150,000 to the runner-up’s charities.

    TEAMS



  • Each conference has an All-Star captain and an equal number of competitors, as follows:

  • Eleven NBA players (Shooting Stars=2; Skills Challenge=3; Three-Point=3, Slam Dunk=3)*

  • Two WNBA players and two NBA legends (conference aligned) for participation in the Shooting Stars competition.

    *Any player announced as an All-Star Saturday Night participant when the "conference team" is named (February 7th), who is then traded by his NBA team to the opposing conference, will continue to compete for the conference to which he was originally assigned.

     

    COMPETITION STRUCTURE



  • Each competition will have two rounds.

  • TEAM ROUND – All competitors within each conference will have their scores added together to get a TOTL time/score.

  • Points will be awarded to the conference that wins the Team Round (best TOTAL time/score).

  • The highest scoring competitor from each conference will advance to the Championship Round.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND – A head-to-head competition between the highest scoring West and highest scoring East competitor from the Team Round, to decide each competition champion.

  •  Points will be awarded to the conference whose competitor wins the Championship Round.

  • The conference with the most points at the end of the night will be crowned State Farm All-Star Saturday Night Champions.

    ALL-STAR SATURDAY NIGHT SCORING



  • Sears Shooting Stars

  • TEAM Round – 20 POINTS awarded to the conference with the fastest TOTAL time.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP Round – 10 POINTS awarded to the conference of the champion.

  • Taco Bell Skills Challenge

  • TEAM Round – 30 POINTS awarded to the conference with the fastest TOTAL time.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP Round – 10 POINTS awarded to the conference of the champion.

    ·         Foot Locker Three-Point Contest

  • TEAM Round – 40 POINTS awarded to the conference with the highest TOTAL score.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP Round – 10 POINTS awarded to the conference of the champion.

    ·         Sprite Slam Dunk

  • TEAM Round – 50 POINTS awarded to the conference with the highest TOTAL score.

  • CHAMPIONSHIP Round – 55 POINTS awarded to the conference of the champion.

    o    In addition, each time a player scores a perfect 50 for a dunk during the TEAM Round, his conference will have 10 BONUS POINTS added to its overall    All-Star Saturday Night score.

     

    *Please see the four individual competition rules documents for details regarding their specific scoring, timing and order of competition.