Rising Stars set to help kick off NBA All-Star Weekend at Intuit Dome
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The NBA All-Star Game is returning to the Southland in two weeks, and one part of the annual weekend event that has grown in popularity in recent years is the Rising Stars Challenge, which affords fans the opportunity to watch the league’s top rookies and second-year players compete in a four-team tournament.
Rosters for the mini-tournament, which takes place Friday, Feb. 13 at Intuit Dome, were assembled last week by a trio of Hall of Famers in Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter, who will join former player turned analyst Austin Rivers as the honorary coaches (Rivers will coach the G League squad).
Anthony had the No. 1 pick and drafted Dallas rookie forward Cooper Flagg, who also was the No. 1 pick in last year’s draft. McGrady went next and chose Charlotte rookie guard/forward Kon Knueppel, while Carter opted for Philadelphia rookie guard VJ Edgecombe at No. 3.
Quentin Richardson, drafted by the Clippers with the 18th pick in 2000, knows all three Hall of Famers well. He was Anthony’s teammate on the New York Knicks in 2012-13 and faced cousins McGrady and Carter many times throughout their careers. Richardson, now 45 and hosting pregame, halftime and postgame shows for the Orlando Magic, enjoys All-Star Weekend and is delighted to see the festivities back in the city where his NBA journey started. A highlight of his 13-year career was making his last nine shots to win the three-point contest in 2005.
“I participated in the Saturday night rookie-sophomore game my first couple of years in the league and I just love the event,” said Richardson, who played for the Clippers from 2000 to 2004 when they were co-tenants with the Lakers at what was then called Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena. “It’s a platform for the fans to look at the real future stars of the league, the up-and-comers, and with the international boom there’s so many different young, international guys they may not know well from different teams that are out on display that weekend. It’s one of those weekends you always want to go to, you always want to be a part of.”
The Rookie Challenge was established in 1994 and featured two randomly selected teams of first-year players. The name was changed to Rising Stars Challenge in 2012, and the current tournament-style format was adopted four years ago. Since 2023 the format has been 28 players — 21 rookies and sophomores and seven G League players.
“I’m intrigued by the format,” Richardson said. “When I played it was just the rookies and sophomores, two teams, but the kids have gotten behind this so the NBA has been very good about pivoting into different things to try to gain more excitement around the games for that weekend. I’m all for it.”
Richardson played both of his Rookie Challenge games with Clippers teammate Darius Miles, who’s now his co-host on the “Knuckleheads” podcast, and Richardson led his team in scoring both times, averaging 21 points, double his career average.
He thinks the NBA game has grown more exciting, giving the event a boost too.
“The rules have changed in a way that you’re allowing the fans to watch more scoring,” he said. “The pace has been sped up, the three-point shot is a bigger deal now, they shoot it with a higher volume. From a fan’s standpoint you want to see more scoring and more defense, but the defenders now have that much more skill because they don’t have as many rules in their favor.”
Richardson expects All-Star Weekend to be as much a showcase of the Clippers’ new home as it is of the action in it.
“It’ll be awesome,” he said. “The young fellas will put on display for the world to see and that venue is going to be put on display for everyone to see as well. I believe it’s the newest arena we have in the NBA. So much technology went into it, so it’ll be a great stage for everyone to come and witness and enjoy that.”
The 75th NBA All-Star Game will be played Sunday at Intuit Dome in Inglewood. There are many other games and activities at Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and Convention Center. Here is what you need to know.
In the Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal. The winners will meet for the championship. For each semifinal, the first team to reach or surpass 40 points is the winner. For the final, the first team to reach or surpass 25 points will be the champion.
“I like how they draft for it,” Richardson said. “It picks from the essence of how we all grew up when you played in the park or rec league, wherever you went, one guy had two dudes to choose and you get to pick your five, so it’s kind of taking you back to the essence of how we grew up playing ball. It’s something we’re all familiar with, so that’s a little twist that takes us back to our roots.”
In November the NBA announced that the All-Star Game will adopt a new USA vs. the World format: a round-robin tournament featuring two teams of American players and another of international players, each consisting of at least eight players. The two teams with the best records will advance to the finals. All four games will be played with a 12-minute time limit.
“Absolutely, it’ll continue to be a global sport,” Richardson said. “Especially with them talking about NBA Europe, that’ll make everything bigger and better. They’ve got the Africa League, so from commissioner David Stern to now Adam Silver, they’ve done an incredible job of growing the brand. Proof is in the amount of international guys we have in the league now. It’s known far and wide and it’ll continue to get bigger and bigger.”
Richardson thinks the success of All-Star Weekend is dependent on the best players participating.
“The three-point contest, the dunk contest, it’ll take one big-name guy to go out and do it,” he said, “and everyone else will say, ‘Oh wait, he’s doing it? I need to do it.’ It’ll get back there. It’s a great weekend for the NBA … it’s like a family reunion. I just go out there and enjoy it.”
RISING STARS ROSTERS
Team Melo
Cooper Flagg (Dallas), Reed Sheppard (Houston), Stephon Castle (San Antonio), Dylan Harper (San Antonio), Jeremiah Fears (New Orleans), Donovan Clingan (Portland), Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto)
Team T-Mac
Kon Knueppel (Charlotte), Kel’el Ware (Miami), Tre Johnson (Washington), Alex Sarr (Washington), Ajay Mitchell (Oklahoma City), Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland), Cam Spencer (Memphis)
Team Vince
VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia), Derik Queen (New Orleans), Kyshawn George (Washington), Matas Buzelis (Chicago), Egor Dёmin (Brooklyn), Cedric Coward (Memphis), Jaylen Wells (Memphis)
Team Austin
Sean East II (Salt Lake City), Ron Harper Jr. (Maine), David Jones Garcia (Austin), Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (San Diego), Alijah Martin (Raptors 905), Tristen Newton (Rio Grande Valley), Yang Hansen (Rip City)
NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND SCHEDULE
(at Intuit Dome unless noted)
Friday
4 p.m.: Celebrity Game at Kia Forum (ESPN)
6 p.m.: Rising Stars Challenge (Peacock)
8 p.m.: HBCU Classic, Hampton vs. North Carolina A&T, at Kia Forum (Peacock)
Saturday
10:30 a.m.: NBA All-Star media session (NBA TV)
2 p.m.: All-Star Saturday: skills challenge, three-point contest, slam-dunk contest (NBC and Peacock)
Sunday
11:30 a.m.: NBA G League Next Up Game at Convention Center (NBA TV)
2 p.m.: 75th NBA All-Star Game (NBC and Peacock)
