Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton and guard Pat Connaughton will participate in State Farm All-Star Saturday Night, the NBA announced today. Middleton will compete in the Taco Bells Skills Challenge while Connaughton will go up against the highest flyers in the NBA during the AT&T Slam Dunk competition. Both events, which are part of the 2020 State Farm All-Star Weekend in Chicago, will air live on TNT from United Center on Saturday, Feb. 15, beginning at 7 p.m. CT.
Middleton, who will also make his second consecutive appearance in the All-Star Game that weekend, will be the fourth Buck to appear in the Skills Challenge, joining Brandon Knight (2015), Giannis Antetokounmpo (2014) and Brandon Jennings (2010). This is the second consecutive year, and third time overall, that Middleton is participating in All-Star Saturday Night as he made appearances in the 3-Point Contest last year and in 2016. He’ll compete against Spencer Dinwiddie (Nets), Derrick Rose (Pistons), Domantas Sabonis (Pacers), Pascal Siakam (Raptors) and Jayson Tatum (Celtics) in this year’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge.
Connaughton, who is making his NBA All-Star Weekend debut, is the fifth player in franchise history to be selected for the Slam Dunk competition, joining Antetokounmpo (2015), Jennings (2011, did not participate due to injury), Ray Allen (1997) andPaul Pressey (1987). The 6-4 guard will go up against Aaron Gordon (Magic), Dwight Howard (Lakers) and Derrick Jones Jr. (Heat) in this year’s AT&T Slam Dunk contest.
Click here for a video highlighting Middleton and a here for a video highlighting Connaughton.
2020 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge Rules
Two players compete simultaneously on identical courses and the fastest finisher reaches the next round. In the first round, the eight players are paired to participate in four head-to-head competitions. The four winners advance to the second round, where two more head-to-head showdowns determine the two finalists. The first finalist to successfully complete the course is declared the winner of the 2020 Taco Bell® Skills Challenge. Click here for a complete explanation of the rules.
2020 AT&T Slam Dunk Rules
In the two-round event, participants can perform any dunk they choose. The players have a maximum of three attempts to complete each dunk in both the first round and the final round. Five judges score every dunk on a scale of 6 to 10, resulting in a high score of 50 and a low score of 30. The judges will be announced at a later date.
All four competitors get two dunks in the first round. The two players with the highest combined score for their two dunks advance to the head-to-head final round. Both players get two dunks in the final round. The player with the highest combined score for his two dunks in the final round is crowned the 2020 AT&T Slam Dunk champion. Click here for a complete explanation of the rules.
Photo: Getty Images