Houston, Texas (KTRK) – The Houston Rockets are still a season or two — or three, really — away from true playoff contention. The same can be said of the NBA stars when it comes to making the All-Star Game.
So while Red Nation fans will need to wait for that to fully materialize, they will have to settle for superstars Jalen Green, Alperen Sengün, and Jabari Smith Jr Access to this year’s NBA Rising Stars show.
In years past, one of the events leading up to the All-Star Game was a showdown between the league’s first and second year players. However, this season’s version, selected in Salt Lake City, Utah, invites 21 rookies and sophomores, plus seven players from the NBA’s Developmental G League, and places them in the draft pool to be selected by one of four teams. .
The video above is from Smith and his fellow juniors’ June 2022 introduction.
Green, who leads the team in points per game, and Singon, who leads the Rockets in rebounds and blocks during his breakout season, are among the sophomore invitees. The NBA invited Smith, who is sixth in scoring and fourth in minutes among rookies, as the Rockets’ lone first-year representative, passing teammate Tari Eason, who came to his team during his debut season in Houston.
The 21 NBA players will be placed into three teams of seven. Former NBA players Pau Gasol, Joachim Noah and Deron Williams will serve as coaches for those teams, while former Rockets star Jason Terry will coach the G-League team.
The four teams will then face off in semi-final matches, with each winner facing a final. Games will also be played to a target final score, which are similar to the newly established rules in a regular All-Star Game.
And yes, there is a possibility that all three Rockets are on the same team or are facing each other.
The Rising Stars competition has been scheduled for Friday, February 17th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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