words // Brandon Richard
It was all about fundamentals when six of the NBA's youngest ball handlers suited up for the 2014 Skills Challenge. The event tests a player's ability to dribble, pass and shoot in an obstacle course setup. This year, the contest took on a team format, which paired together Damian Lillard and Trey Burke, Reggie Jackson and Goran Dragic, Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams and Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMar DeRozan.
In the end, it was the Western Conference's Lillard and Burke who walked away with the hardware. After Oladipo and Carter-Williams posted a combined time of 45.3 seconds, Burke capped off his team's run with a finger roll at 45.2 seconds, giving the western duo a thrilling .1 second victory.
Another interesting element to the new team format is players from rival sneaker brands competing together. For this event, Lillard laced up the 'Away' adidas D Rose 4.5, while the rookie Burke went with a PE colorway of the Nike Zoom Crusader. Read on for a look at all of the sneakers worn in the Skills Challenge.
Damian Lillard // adidas D Rose 4.5 'Away'
Trey Burke // Nike Zoom Crusader PE
Victor Oladipo // Air Jordan XX8 SE
Michael Carter-Williams // Nike Zoom HyperRev PE
DeMar DeRozan // Nike Kobe 8 System iD
Giannis Antetokounmpo // Nike Zoom Hyperfuse
Goran Dragic // adidas Rose 773 II
Reggie Jackson // Nike Air Foamposite Pro 'Spider-Man'
Trey Burke // Nike Zoom Crusader
Damian Lillard // adidas D Rose 4.5 'Away'
2014 NBA Skills Challenge Participants
images via Getty
