Luka Doncic Will Compete In the Skills Challenge And Dirk Nowitzki Will Compete In The Three Point Challenge

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DALLAS – The NBA announced today that rookie guard/forward Luka Dončić will take part in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and 14-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki will compete in the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest, as part of 2019 State Farm^® All-Star Saturday Night. The events will take place at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 16, beginning at 7 p.m. CT on TNT.

Dončić (6-7, 218), who was also selected to play for the World Team in the 2019 MTN DEW ICE Rising Stars game on Friday, Feb. 15, will become the first Maverick ever to compete in the NBA Skills Challenge since it was first introduced in 2003.

The reigning three-time Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month is averaging a team-high 20.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season. He is one of just seven NBA players (and the only rookie) averaging at least 20 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game in 2018-19 (All-Stars Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokić are the others). Oscar Robertson is the only rookie in league history to average at least 20-7-5 for a season.

Dončić, who doesn’t turn 20 until Feb. 28, became the only teenager in NBA history to record multiple triple-doubles when he produced two in a four-game stretch in late January. He posted a team-high 18 points, 11 rebounds and a game-high 10 assists at Milwaukee on Jan. 21, and a career-high (game-high) 35 points, a career-high (game-high) 12 boards and a game-high 10 assists against Toronto on Jan. 27.

After his 35-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist performance against the Raptors on Jan. 27, Dončić went for a career-high-tying (game-high) 35 points, a team-high 11 rebounds and a game-high six assists at Cleveland on Feb. 2. He became the first player in league history to post multiple 35-10-5 games before the age of 20. What’s more, he joined James (7), Carmelo Anthony (6) and Durant (4) as one of four players in NBA history to score 35 points more than once as a teenager.

Nowitzki (7-0, 245), who will also be appearing in his 14^th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 17, as a special roster addition, will compete in the 3-Point Contest for the sixth time in his career and the first since 2008. He is the only Maverick ever to win the competition, bringing home the title in 2006 when the event was held in Houston. Nowitzki has finished no worse than third in the contest (he placed second in 2000, third in 2001, first in 2006, third in 2007 and third in 2008).

The 7-0 forward from Germany ranks first in franchise history and 11^th all-time in 3-point field goals made with 1,935. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made by both an international player and a 7-footer.

Nowitzki, who is in his 21^st season with the Mavericks (an NBA-record for a player to suit up for a single franchise), will become the first Maverick to compete in the 3-Point Contest since Wesley Matthews in 2017. He is one of nine Dallas players ever to take part in the event (Dale Ellis, Detlef Schrempf, Derek Harper, George McCloud, Hubert Davis, Steve Nash, Jason Terry and Matthews are the others)

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Tags: All-Star Game, Blake Griffin, charlotte, Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Kia, Landon Buford, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, NBA, Nikola Jokić, Oscar Robertson, Raptors, Russell Westbrook, The Hype Magazine, TNT

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Landon Buford Washington State Graduate Past Interviews include Grammy Award Winner Kenny G, David Banner, WNBA President Lisa Borders, What's Trending's CEO Shira Lazar, Ice Cube, NBC's Chicago PD LaRoyce Hawkins, Family Matters Darius McCrary, En Vogues Maxine Jones, Team USA Track & Field Member Norris Frederick, James Kyson, WNBA Great Lauren Jackson, and more.