The five best things from NBA All-Star weekend
By Connor Learn
4. Kristaps Porzingis went full unicorn
Skilled players are no longer just guards and the occasional forward. There is a new class of power forwards and centers who are not limited to their height or position and are just as skilled as their shorter counterparts. Karl-Anthony Towns’ victory last year proved this to be true when big men were invited in the skills competition for the first time, and it was proven true again this year.
This year’s field of contestants were half guards/wings and half big men. Devin Booker, Gordon Hayward, Isaiah Thomas, and John Wall represented the guards. Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, and Kristaps Porzingis represented the bigs. The 7-foot-3 Porzingis should have had no business in the skills challenge, but that didn’t prevent him going out and winning it anyway.
It’s not just that Porzingis managed to win the skills challenge over a number of talented players, it’s how comfortable he looked doing so. He moved with the ball with ease, was dead on with his passes, and finished off his rounds with his clean shooting stroke. It was the perfect showcase for the Latvian to show off his diverse skills. We have never seen a Kristaps Porzingis like player before, and we now have a 7-foot-3 skills champ.