Hooped Up

Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will defend his PlayStation® Skills Challenge title against three of the league’s biggest stars on Feb. 17 as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The competitors hoping to deny Wade’s quest for a repeat are the Los Angeles Lakers ’ Kobe Bryant, the Cleveland Cavaliers ’ LeBron James and the Phoenix Suns ’ Steve Nash.

The PlayStation Skills Challenge was introduced at NBA All-Star 2003 in Atlanta and consists of four 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.

NBA