Draymond Green set the record straight after Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul were disqualified from the 2025 NBA Skills Challenge for attempting to bypass the rules. While many assumed the veteran Paul had masterminded the strategy, Green revealed that it was actually the 7’4” sensation Wembanyama who came up with the idea.
During All-Star Weekend, Green detailed how Wembanyama repeatedly asked around to confirm if players were required to make shots or if they could simply throw up attempts and move on.
Draymond Green: “What I will say is, Wemby walked around the court asking everybody, like, so, because they say, make one or three attempts. And Wemby said, said, oh, so I could just get all three of them up there? And they were like, yeah.”
“So he asked. Now, he may not have asked the right people. But I will say, in Wemby’s defense, he did ask a lot of people. I heard him ask maybe five or six people, like, so, you sure I could just throw the ball so.”
Reporter: “I thought that might be a Chris Paul decision instead of a Wemby decision.”
Draymond Green: “It was actually a Wemby decision but he probably should have went with the old man because see when we was practicing Wemby practiced a couple times just throwing and C was actually shooting, so the old man followed the rookie right off the cliff.”
Draymond Green says it was Victor Wembanyama who asked around and tried to beat the system in the Skills Challenge
Me: I thought that was a Chris Paul decision
Draymond: It was actually a Wemby decision pic.twitter.com/atQoXGk91W
— Dalton Johnson (@DaltonJ_Johnson) February 16, 2025
The strategy, while clever, backfired. Wembanyama and Paul completed the challenge in an impressive 47.9 seconds, but their celebration was short-lived. NBA officials reviewed their performance and ruled that they had not properly attempted shots, leading to their disqualification.
Neither Wembanyama nor Paul took the decision lightly. An NBA official approached them with a rule book to explain why they were being removed from the competition, but neither player seemed convinced.
TNT’s Allie LaForce attempted to get Paul’s reaction, but he declined to comment, clearly frustrated with the ruling. Meanwhile, Wembanyama later joked about the controversy when asked about the crowd’s reaction. Despite his apparent innocence, the All-Star crowd had made their discontent known, and both Wembanyama and Paul had to accept their disqualification.
Cleveland Cavaliers stars Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley took advantage of the chaos and went on to win the Skills Challenge, defeating the Golden State Warriors duo of Draymond Green and Moses Moody in the final round.
Wembanyama, still in his second season, has quickly become one of the most intriguing figures in the NBA—not just for his dominance on the court, but also for his sharp wit and unexpected antics. While his plan to game the Skills Challenge rules didn’t work out, it showed his quick thinking and competitive spirit.
Paul, known for his craftiness and ability to find loopholes in the game, may have met his match in the young French phenom. Whether Wembanyama will try another creative strategy next year remains to be seen, but one thing is certain—he won’t make the mistake of asking the wrong people for permission again.
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