Embiid selected to participate in All-Star Skills Challenge

Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Joel Embiid didn’t make to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, but he was selected to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge and on Thursday evening, he was one of the players picked for the Taco Bell Skills Challenge.

The Taco Bell Skills Competition has been reworked to feature guards against big men, pitting them in a test of their speed, ball-handling and shooting. Last year, Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns won in the finals against Boston’s Isaiah Thomas, sparking a wild celebration among the competing big men. While Thomas will return this season, several intriguing big men will make their debuts, including the tallest player in the NBA, 7-foot-3 Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis, and Philadelphia’s multi-talented rookie Joel Embiid.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge field: Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Gordon Hayward, Isaiah Thomas, John Wall, Devin Booker, Kristaps Porzingis, Joel Embiid

Embiid just won his third straight Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month Award, averaging 23.9 points and 9.1 rebounds in January to lead all first-year players. The Sixers were 7-2 with Embiid in the lineup last month. He’s currently nursing a left knee contusion and has missed the last three games. 

All-Star Saturday night from New Orleans will take place on February 18 at the Smoothie King Center.