Giannis Antetokounmpo and All Contestants Revealed for 2022 NBA Skills Competition

Milwaukee Bucks All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo headlines the field for the 2022 NBA Skills Challenge, which features a new team format this year.

Antetokounmpo will lead a three-man squad that includes his brothers Alex Antetokounmpo of the Toronto Raptors' G League affiliate and Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who is Giannis' teammate in Milwaukee. 

They will go against the Cleveland Cavaliers group of All-Star point guard Darius Garland, rookie big man Evan Mobley and stalwart center Jarrett Allen.

The last three-man team represents the rookies and is made up of Detroit's Cade Cunningham Oklahoma City's Josh Giddey and Toronto's Scottie Barnes.

The event will be the first to take place on State Farm All-Star Saturday Night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. ET. Following the skills challenge will be the three-point contest and dunk contest.

Here's a deeper look at this year's participants in the skills contest, the new rules and who has the best chance of winning.

---

Taco Bell Skills Challenge Participants  

Team Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, MIL: 28.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists

Thanasis Antetokounmpo, SF, MIL: 2.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists

Alex Antetokounmpo, F, Raptors 905: 3.0 points, 0.8 rebounds, 0.1 assists

Team Cavs

Darius Garland, PG, CLE: 19.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 8.2 assists

Jarrett Allen, C, CLE: 16.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists

Evan Mobley, PF, CLE: 14.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists

Team Rookies

Cade Cunningham, PG, DET: 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists

Josh Giddey, SG, OKC: 12.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists

Scottie Barnes, SF, TOR: 14.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists

---

The new team format will feature a four-round competition that tests shooting, passing and dribbling skills. The NBA posted an explainer of the new rules:

All three teams will compete in the first three rounds and the two teams with the most "challenge points" will advance to the final round. Teams earn points by winning the first three rounds.

The first round will test team shooting, the second will test team passing, the third will be a team relay and the final round will be half-court shots. The team that makes a half-court shot in the quickest amount of time will win the competition.

Typically a contest for guards and smaller players, big men have dominated the skills challenge in recent years. In 2021, Domantas Sabonis was the fifth power forward or center in the last six seasons to take home the trophy.

Sabonis' win last year continued a stretch of five consecutive wins by a player from the Eastern Conference. Kristaps Porzingis started the run in 2017, followed by Spencer Dinwiddie, Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo.

Prior to that, players from the Western Conference took home the win for seven straight years. Among those winners were Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard and Karl-Anthony Towns.

The wins by Sabonis, Adebayo, Tatum, Porzingis and Towns in recent years has proven that forwards and centers who possess an efficient jump shot have strong chances of stealing the win from the guards in the field. So it wouldn't be a surprise to see the Antetokounmpo Brothers or Team Cavs with their big-man tandem holding the trophy when it's all said and done.

But don't sleep on the rookies. Cunningham, Barnes and Giddey have displayed skills well beyond their years and they will surely push for a win in the skills challenge.