Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Stephon Castle headline pool of players for Rising Stars game All-Star weekend
In less than 24 hours, three of the game’s legends — Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady (NBC’s NBA Showtime crew) — will select their favorite players of the next generation. Live on NBC and Peacock, those icons will draft their teams for the Rising Stars Game on All-Star Friday Night next month in Los Angeles, teams they will coach in that game.
Who will those superstars be drafting? On Peacock NBA Monday, the NBA announced the pool of players invited to the Rising Stars game. Those players are:
NBA Rookies
Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies)
Egor Dëmin (Brooklyn Nets)
VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers)
Jeremiah Fears (New Orleans Pelicans)
Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)
Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs)
Tre Johnson (Washington Wizards)
Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)
Cam Spencer (Memphis Grizzlies)
Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto Raptors)
Derik Queen (New Orleans Pelicans)
NBA Sophomores
Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls)
Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs)
Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)
Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards)
Ajay Mitchell (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)
Reed Sheppard (Houston Rockets)
Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Kel’el Ware (Miami Heat)
Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies)
Those players were selected by a vote of assistant coaches around the league. The players will be drafted into three seven-man teams coached by one of Anthony, Carter or McGrady (more on the format below).
The fourth team in this tournament mix — coached by NBC broadcaster and former NBA player Austin Rivers — is made up of G-League players. They are:
Sean East II (Salt Lake City Stars)
Ron Harper Jr. (Maine Celtics)
David Jones Garcia (Austin Spurs)
Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (San Diego Clippers)
Alijah Martin (Raptors 905)
Tristen Newton (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
Yang Hansen (Rip City Remix)
Rising Stars Game format
The Rising Stars Game will follow last year’s format that led to some entertaining basketball: Those 21 rookies and sophomores listed above will be drafted by the Hall of Famers into three teams of seven players each, with G League players forming the fourth team.
Those four teams will play in a mini-tournament with two semi-final games to 40 — no time limit, it’s just first to score 40. The winners of those first two matchups will face off in a championship game to 25.
How to Watch the NBA on NBC and Peacock
Every moment of NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles — Friday’s Rising Stars game on Feb. 13, All-Star Saturday Night, including the 3-point Contest and Dunk Contest on Feb. 14, and the All-Star Game itself on Feb. 15 — will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones. Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
