The Rising Stars game often is just a big, fun showcase of some of the best that the NBA has to offer for the future. Past stars like Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, DeMarcus Cousins, Kahwi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Blake Griffin and Paul George all have played in this new format of the ‘Rising Stars’ game.
2012 was the first year that they got rid of the Rookie versus Sophomores distinction and made it the “Rising Stars” game but the idea of the young first and second years stars playing against each other during All-Star weekend has been in place since 1994!
Enough of the history lesson, time to get into the teams and the contest itself. All teams and setup were picked by some of the Def Pen Sports Staff and one special guest as well.
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Charlie Taylor (@ChilliCharlieRT)
Team A:
Michael Carter-Williams
Victor Oladipo
K.J. McDaniels
Nikola Mirotic
Nerlens Noel
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Elfrid Payton
Marcus Smart
Tim Hardaway Jr
Shabazz Napier
Team B:
Trey Burke
Andrew Wiggins
Kostas Papanikolaou
Anthony Bennett
Steven Adams
Zach LaVine
Tarik Black
Ben McLemore
Dante Exum
Anthony Bennett
WINNER: Team A
MVP: Nikola Mirotic, Chicago Bulls
Def Pen Sneaker Writer/Aficionado, Delly Ralph (@PoundSignDead)
Team A:
Shabazz Napier
Steven Adams
Mason Plumlee
Dante Exum
K.J. McDaniels
Zach LaVine
Michael Carter-Williams
Andrew Wiggins
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Nikola Mirotic
Team B:
Tarik Black
Ben McLemore
Elfrid Payton
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Victor Oladipo
Bojan Bogdanovic
Trey Burke
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Nerlens Noel
Dennis Schroder
WINNER: Team A
MVP: Andrew Wiggins
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Esfandiar Baraheni (@ESBaraheni)
Team C-Webb:
Gorgui Dieng
Andrew Wiggins
Ben McLemore
Trey Burke
Zach LaVine
Solomon Hill
Alex Len
Dante Exum
Nerlens Noel
Dennis Schroder
Team Charles:
Rudy Gobert
Nikola Mirotic
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Victor Oladipo
Otto Porter
Jusuf Nurkic
K.J. McDaniels
Shabazz Muhammad
Elfrid Payton
Winner: Team Charles
MVP: Andrew Wiggins
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Kyle Spinner (@K_spinz)
Team A:
Michael Carter-Williams
Marcus Smart
Victor Oladipo
Zach LaVine
Andrew Wiggins
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Travis Wear
Dennis Schroder
Pero Antic
Mason Plumlee
Team B:
Trey Burke
Dante Exum
Tim Hardaway Jr
Elfrid Payton
Nik Stauskas
K.J. McDaniels
Sergey Karasev
Kelly Olynyk
Steven Adams
Nerlens Noel
WINNER: Team A
MVP: Mason Plumlee
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Martin Soaries (@marley_mcfly)
EAST:
Michael Carter-Williams
Victor Oladipo
Nerlens Noel
Nikola Mirotic
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Tim Hardaway Jr
Elfrid Payton
Cleanthony Early
Mason Plumlee
Dennis Schroder
WEST:
Dante Exum
Ben McLemore
Nik Stauskas
Andrew Wiggins
Zach LaVine
Gary Harris
Trey Burke
Shabazz Muhammad
Alex Len
Steven Adams
Winner:WEST
MVP: Andrew Wiggins
Def Pen Sports NBA Writer, Rob Lopez (@r0bato)
Team Isiah:
Assistant Coach: Allan Houston
Cody Zeller
Victor Oladipo
Michael Carter-Williams
Gorgui Dieng
Tim Hardaway JR
Dante Exum
Kelly Olynyk
K.J. McDaniels
Dennis Schroder
Zach LaVine
Team Shaq:
Assistant Coach: Kerry Kittles
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nerlens Noel
Mason Plumlee
Trey Burke
Andrew Wiggins
Steven Adams
Nikola Mirotic
Marcus Smart
Nik Stauskas
Ben McLemore
Winner: Team Isiah
MVP: Victor Oladipo
Def Pen Sports NFL Writer, Trey Daubert (@….Trey thinks it’s 2007 so he doesn’t have a twitter)
Team 1:
Elfrid Payton
Andrew Wiggins
Shabazz Muhammad
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Gorgui Dieng
Jusuf Nurik
Tim Hardaway Jr
Marcus Smart
Steven Adams
Kelly Olynyk
Team 2:
Michael Carter-Williams
Victor Oladipo
K.J. McDaniels
Mason Plumlee
Nikola Mirotic
Nerlens Noel
Zach LaVine
Dennis Schroder
Nikola Mirotic
Bojan Bogdanovic
Winner:Team 1
MVP: Marcus Smart
