On Friday, NBA All-Star Weekend will tip off with the Rising Stars game in a revamped format to celebrate the league’s 75th anniversary season from Cleveland, Ohio.
The showcase game will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games. Each game will be played to a final target score, meaning a game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of a running clock.
The pool of 28 players for the game consists of 12 rookie players, 12 second-year players and four players from the NBA G League Ignite. The rookies and sophomores were selected by assistant coaches and the Ignite players were chosen by G League head coaches.
The future is here! #CloroxRisingStars • #NBAAllStar: 9:00pm/et Friday on TNT. pic.twitter.com/ab3O06ETD4
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 18, 2022
Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Gary Payton, Isiah Thomas and James Worthy will serve as honorary coaches for the four teams. They each drafted their teams earlier this month from the pool of players in an order determined by a random drawing.
The two semifinal games will be played to a final target score of 50 with the final game being played to 25, for a total of 75 points across the semifinal and final to celebrate the league’s 75th anniversary season. The winners from the two semifinals games will meet in the final.
The action will begin with Team Worthy playing Team Isiah and Team Payton facing Team Barry. The two winners will meet in the final game to determine the champion.
Here is the TV info and full rosters for the game on Friday.