John Wall to Compete in Taco Bell® Skills Challenge

The NBA announced today that Wizards Guard John Wall has been selected to compete in the Taco Bell® Skills Challenge as part of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend festivities. Wall will be up against Golden State's Stephen Curry, Chicago's Derrick Rose, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook and New Orleans’ Chris Paul during the contest on All-Star Saturday Night.

“I’d like to thank the fans who voted for me and gave me the chance to compete,” said Wall. “I look forward to representing them, the Wizards organization and the city of Washington on Saturday night.”

For the first time, the NBA and Taco Bell gave fans the opportunity to determine participants in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge as part of the “Choose Your Squad” program. From Jan. 27 through Feb. 15, fans could choose their squad of four players out of eight candidates online at NBA.com/chooseyoursquad. Along with the four players chosen to compete, fans also had the opportunity to vote for Baron Davis of the Los Angeles Clippers, Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs.

Wall, the overall top selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, ranks seventh overall in assists (8.9 ppg) and is second among rookies in scoring (15.0 ppg). He is also participating in the 2011 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday night, while teammate JaVale McGee will compete in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest on Saturday night.

Introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta – the Taco Bell® Skills Challenge will feature five 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. The two players with the fastest times from the first round advance to the finals with the order of competition determined by inverse order of the first-round times. At the discretion of the referee, television instant replay may be consulted for clarification of rules compliance.