On Jan. 31, the NBA announced the participants for the 2023 Rising Stars tournament, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 during All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. The first game will tip off at 9 p.m. ET.
The roster, chosen by the NBA's assistant coaches, includes 11 NBA rookies, 10 sophomores and seven G League players, excluding injury replacements:
- Rookies: Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic), Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), AJ Griffin (Atlanta Hawks), Jaden Ivey (Detroit Pistons), Walker Kessler (Utah Jazz), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings), Andrew Nembhard (Indiana Pacers), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets), Jeremy Sochan (San Antonio Spurs), Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder), Tari Eason (Houston Rockets; injury replacement for Duren)
- Sophomores: Jose Alvarado (New Orleans Pelicans), Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors), Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jalen Green (Houston Rockets), Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks), Bones Hyland (Denver Nuggets), Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers), Trey Murphy III (New Orleans Pelicans), Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets), Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic), Ayo Dosumno (Chicago Bulls; injury replacement for Green)
- G League: Sidy Cissoko (G League Ignite), Scoot Henderson (G League Ignite), Mojave King (G League Ignite), Kenneth Lofton Jr. (Memphis Hustle), Mac McClung (Deleware Blue Coats), Leonard Miller (G League Ignite), Scotty Pippen Jr. (South Bay Lakers)
Coaches
Former NBA All-Stars Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Deron Williams will serve as coaches for the three NBA Rising-Star teams, while former Sixth Man of the Year Jason Terry will lead the G League team.
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Teams
Gasol, Noah and Williams drafted their seven-player teams on Feb. 7 from a pool of rookies and sophomores. The fourth team, coached by Terry, will be composed of the aforementioned G League representatives.
Team Pau selected Banchero with the No. 1 pick, Team Deron selected Wagner with the No. 2 pick and Team Joakim selected Mobley with the No. 3 pick. It was a snake-style draft, so Team Joakim had the first pick of the second round, which it used on Giddey. Here are the three teams, with players listed in the order in which they were drafted:
- Team Pau: Paolo Banchero, Bennedict Mathurin, Jaden Ivey, Scottie Barnes, Jose Alvarado, Keegan Murray, Andrew Nembhard
- Team Deron: Franz Wagner, Jalen Green*, Alperun Sengun, Trey Murphy III, AJ Griffin, Bones Hyland, Walker Kessler, Ayo Dosunmu**
- Team Joakim: Evan Mobley, Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams, Jeremy Sochan, Quentin Grimes, Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Duren*, Tari Eason**
*injured, will not play
**injury replacement
Format
The four teams will compete in a three-game tournament, and each game will feature the Elam Ending. The format, via NBA.com, will be as follows:
All three games will be played to a Final Target Score, which means the game will end on a made basket or free throw rather than time expiring.
The two semifinal games – Game 1 and Game 2 – will be played to a Final Target Score of 40.
The final game, featuring the winners, will be played to a Final Target Score of 25 to determine the tournament champion.
- Game 1: Team A vs. Team B
- Game 2: Team C vs. Team D
- Game 3: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
