NBA All-Star Weekend is always fun for both casual and die-hard basketball fans. While most of the attention is paid to Saturday night’s showcase contests and Sunday night’s All-Star Game, Friday night usually provides some fireworks in the form of the Rising Stars Game. The 2019 game should be no different and, on Tuesday evening, the NBA announced the 20 players selected to participate in the event.
As usual, only first and second-year players are eligible for inclusion and, since the early days when rookies were paired against sophomores, things have changed to a battle between “Team USA” and “Team World.” There were some no-doubt inclusions like Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell and Celtics forward Jayson Tatum for the USA team, but there are some big-time heavy-hitters on the World side as well.
Mavs rookie Luka Doncic, reigning Rising Stars MVP Bogdan Bogdanovic and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons are scheduled to suit up for the World squad. Of course, that means a battle between former ROY combatants in Mitchell and Simmons, which brings some additional intrigue to the table. It should be noted that Simmons is on track for a berth in the All-Star Game itself, meaning he could see relatively limited duty here, but there are plenty of story lines to monitor and some highlight-making players (like John Collins and Trae Young) to pick up some of the slack if that takes place.
The game will tip off at 9:00 pm ET on Friday, Feb. 15 and the full rosters can be found below.
Team USA
- Jarrett Allen
- Marvin Bagley
- Lonzo Ball
- John Collins
- De’Aaron Fox
- Jaren Jackson Jr.
- Kyle Kuzma
- Donovan Mitchell
- Jayson Tatum
- Trae Young
Team World
- OG Anunoby
- Deandre Ayton
- Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Luka Doncic
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Rodions Kurucs
- Lauri Markkanen
- Josh Okogie
- Cedi Osman
- Ben Simmons
