Westbrook To Compete In Skills Challenge At All-Star Weekend

Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook will put his skills to the test at this year's All-Star Weekend as he and five other NBA standouts will compete in the skills challenge.

Westbrook, along with San Antonio's Tony Parker, Washington's John Wall, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving and New Jersey's Deron Williams will square off against last year's skills champion Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

Last year, Westbrook came up just short of the title after Curry posted a final-round time of 28.2 seconds to edge Westbrook as skills challenge champion.

Curry will attempt to join the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash and the Miami Dwyane Wade as the only two-time winners skills challenge history.

The skills challenge features six players competing in a two-round timed "obstacle course" consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations.

The three 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.

This year each NBA contestant will be paired with an All-Star teen from an Orlando area Boys & Girls Club.

At the end of the challenge Taco Bell will award $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.

Westbrook currently ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 23.2 points per game and is seventh in steals with 1.9 per contest.

On the other hand, Irving was the top selection in the 2011 NBA Draft and he leads rookies in scoring with 18.3 points per game and is second in assists with 4.8.

The skills challenge will take place on Saturday Feb. 25, at the Amway Center in Orlando.

2012 TACO BELL SKILLS CHALLENGE COMPETITORS

Stephen Curry, Golden State G 6-3 185

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland G 6-3 191

Tony Parker, San Antonio G 6-2 185

John Wall, Washington Wizards G 6-4 195

Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City G 6-3 187

Deron Williams, New Jersey G 6-3 209