The NBA was the first pro sports league to postpone its season due to the coronavirus pandemic, and now the league is back — sort of — as NBA players will get together to compete in the inaugural HORSE Challenge, which will air on ESPN. 10-time All-Star Chris Paul and 2020 All-Star Trae Young will headline the event, as well as Basketball Hall of Famer Tamika Catchings. Along with current NBA players, legends and WNBA players will participate in the challenge.
Joining Young, Paul, and Catchings are Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine, three-time WNBA All-Star Allie Quigley of the Chicago Sky, Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. and NBA Finals MVPs Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce. The competition will begin on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET, and each player will match shots against one another from the isolated home courts. ESPN NBA commentator Mark Jones will be the host of the HORSE Challenge.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The first round of the competition will all take place on Sunday, and it will be down to four players at the end of the night. The semifinals and championship game will take place on Thursday, Apr. 16, starting at 7 p.m. ET. A coin toss will determine who shoots first. Each player must describe each shot attempt. Players can’t dunk, and the first player to accumulate the letters “H-O-R-S-E” after failing to match five shots is eliminated.
The HORSE Challenge gives NBA fans some live action as it’s been a month since the league postponed the season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. League commissioner Adam Silver told the Associated Press: “We miss it badly. To all the families watching this, I know the NBA is a big part of their lives. We just want to assure everybody that while we’re putting the health and safety of everyone first, we’re looking at every possibility to get our players back on the floor and to play NBA basketball again.”
When it comes to when the NBA will be back, Silver said: “Essentially, what I’ve told my folks over the last week is that we just should just accept that, at least for the month of April, we won’t be in a position to make any decisions. And I don’t think that necessarily means on May 1 we will be.”
