NBA Announced Player Pool For 2025 Rising Stars Challenge

Slowly but surely, the NBA is rolling out the list of players who will have a role in All-Star weekend this year in San Francisco. The league announced the starters for Sunday’s game last week, and on Monday, we learned the field for the Dunk Contest this year, which is headlined by Mac McClung’s quest to win for a third straight year.

On Tuesday, the NBA announced the players who will be eligible to play in its biggest event on Friday night: the Rising Stars Challenge. Here’s who made the teams:

Rookies

Bub Carrington, Washington Wizards
Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs
Tristan da Silva, Orlando Magic
Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies
Dalton Knecht, Los Angeles Lakers
Jared McCain, Philadelphia 76ers
Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans
Zaccharie Risacher, Atlanta Hawks
Alex Sarr, Washington Wizards
Jaylen Wells, Memphis Grizzlies

Sophomores

Bilal Coulibaly, Washington Wizards
Gradey Dick, Toronto Raptors
Keyonte George, Utah Jazz
Scoot Henderson, Portland Trail Blazers
Trayce Jackson-Davis, Golden State Warriors
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat
Dereck Lively II, Dallas Mavericks
Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets
Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets
Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs

NBA G League

JD Davidson
Mac McClung
Bryce McGowans
Leonard Miller
Dink Pate
Reed Sheppard
Pat Spencer

There will be a few injury replacements, as a few guys on here (Lively, McCain, Miller) have either been ruled out for the season or are dealing with longer-term injuries. The most fascinating thing here, however, is Wembanyama‘s inclusion, not because he is an undeserving choice, but because he will presumably be named an NBA All-Star when the reserves are announced on Thursday. The league changed up its All-Star format this year to resemble the Rising Stars Challenge, with players broken up into three teams and playing a series of shorter games. But this will include whichever team wins the Rising Stars Challenge as the fourth team on Sunday, and while Wembanyama will presumably join the All-Stars, it sure would be something to see him lead the Rising Stars into at least one game against a collection of the best basketball players in the world.