There will be no Friday night Rising Stars game this NBA All-Star Weekend this year — because there is no All-Star Weekend.
Sunday we get an All-Star Day with the All-Star Game — and Skills Challenge, Three-Point Contest, and Dunk Contest — but the weekend of other events (and parties) around All-Star are called off this year. (Well, there are still hip-hop stars throwing All-Star parties in Atlanta, and people are coming to the city for them, but the NBA is doing its best ostrich imitation and putting its head in the sand on those.)
The fact there is no Rising Stars game didn’t stop the NBA from announcing the rosters for the game. As it has been in recent years, this would have been the United States against the World contest if there had been a game
The USA roster is:
• LaMelo Ball
• Anthony Edwards
• Tyrese Haliburton
• Tyler Herro
• De’Andre Hunter
• Keldon Johnson
• Ja Morant
• Michael Porter Jr.
• Zion Williamson
• James Wiseman
The World roster is:
• Precious Achiuwa
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker
• Deni Avdija
• RJ Barrett
• Facundo Campazzo
• Brandon Clarke
• Luguentz Dort
• Rui Hachimura
• Theo Maledon
• Mychal Mulder
On the bright side, this year there will be no players dropping out.
The most interesting thing about the announcement is the league made it first on NBA Top Shot. That business is booming in a way few saw.
Knicks fans, go ahead and be angry that Imanuel Quickly didn’t make the roster. It’s a legit complaint. Although because of how good the last draft was the USA team is stacked and it would be tough to remove any of those guys (before you say Keldon Johnson, go look at the stats and watch him play).