TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2016 – Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay will replace injured defending champion Patrick Beverley of the Houston Rockets in the 2016 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
The Taco Bell® Skills Challenge is part of State Farm® All-Star Saturday Night, which will be exclusively televised by TNT in the United States at 7:30 p.m. ET. Sportsnet and TSN will simulcast the Taco Bell® Skills Challenge in Canada. The event also will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio.
Mudiay, the seventh pick of NBA Draft 2015 presented by State Farm, ranks first among rookies in assists (5.9 apg), second in minutes (30.2 mpg) and fifth in scoring (11.4 ppg). A native of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mudiay will also compete for the World Team in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 12 at Air Canada Centre.
Beverley, who won the 2015 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge in his event debut, will miss this year’s competition due to an ankle injury.
The Taco Bell® Skills Challenge is a three-round, obstacle-course competition that tests dribbling, passing, agility and three-point-shooting skills. Four frontcourt players will join four guards in the eight-player field – the first time in the event’s 14-year history that multiple frontcourt players will compete. A head-to-head, bracket-style tournament format will be used for the second year in a row.
