Trey Burke Skills Challenge Title Defense Sans Damian Lillard

Dec 9, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard (0) drives while defended by Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke (3) during the first quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

While it’s not yet official, reports circulating say the Trey Burke Skills Challenge title defense will be sans Damian Lillard at this season’s NBA All-Star Weekend in New York from February 13-15. This All-Star break will be an extended one, essentially starting February 12 — with a lone game scheduled, the Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls — through February 18.

More from The J-Notes

• With the FIBA World Cup over for Simone Fontecchio, it’s clear he deserves minutes for the Utah Jazz
• Best, Worst and Most likely scenarios for the Utah Jazz this season
• Hoops Hype downplays the significance of the Utah Jazz’s valuable assets
• 3 Utah Jazz players who have the most to gain or lose this season
• Former Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay is a free agent still and it shouldn’t surprise anyone

Trey Burke will be a repeat participant in two of the weekend’s events, this season a sophomore in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Thursday night on TNT at 9 p.m. eastern time after appearing in it as a rookie last year. This year’s format will be a new one featuring homegrown players versus international players. Burke will line up opposite Utah Jazz teammates Dante Exum and Rudy Gobert in the event.

There’s been no word yet on if the NBA will repeat the two-man relay format they tried out last year in the Skills Challenge in which Lillard and Burke won in thrilling fashion. If they do, Trey Burke will be needing a new partner in his title defense.

"Lillard won the Skills Challenge during All-Star Weekend last season in New Orleans, but will not participate in the event this month in New York.Last week, Lillard said he felt “really disrespected” to be left off the All-Star team by the fans, coaches and commissioner Adam Silver. He posted a photo on Instagram with a caption calling out the groups for overlooking him before quickly deleting the post.–SI.com"

We’ll update this post as we get more information on the formatting for this year and any potential new partner for the Trey Burke Skills Challenge title defense. We’d also recommend you follow Trey’s mother, Ronda Burke, on Twitter for updates.

"Follow me on instragram @rondab10 for coverage from NYC All-Star Weekend— Ronda Burke (@Rondaburke2)"

A full schedule of 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend events can be found here

. Here’s Damian Lillard and Trey Burke in the 2014 NBA Skills Challenge, the closest finish ever in the event’s history:

Update: New, first-time format for this year’s Skills Challenge

"TNT will exclusively televise the Skills Challenge, which features a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament format for the first time. The eight-player field consists of three-rounds in an obstacle-course competition that tests dribbling, passing, agility and shooting skills. The Skills Challenge format calls for two players to compete simultaneously on an identical course with the fastest finisher reaching the next round. In the first round, the eight players have been paired to participate in four head-to-head competitions, with Burke matching up against the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brandon Knight. The four winners advance to the second round, where two more head-to-head showdowns will determine the two finalists. Burke (6-1, 190, Michigan) is making his second appearance in the Skills Challenge, after teaming with Portland’s Damian Lillard to win the competition last year in New Orleans.–NBA.com/UtahJazz"

Burke will face off with Brandon Knight in the new bracket-style challenge. Here are the brackets: