The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama and Houston Rockets’ Amen Thompson headlined the pool of NBA sophomores, rookies and G League players named to the 2025 Rising Stars tournament.
The rookie Rising Stars class is led by the Spurs’ Stephon Castle, Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey, Philadelphia 76ers’ Jared McCain and Washington Wizards’ Alex Sarr.
The four-team, three-game Rising Stars tournament will take place on Friday, Feb. 14 starting at 9 p.m. ET.
The first two games of tournament will be decided by which team is first to 40 points, while the championship will go to the first team to reach 25 points in the final game.
The winning team will then go on to play in the 2025 NBA All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET.
The upcoming tournament will mark the second straight even to which the Spurs have sent multiple players. Wembanyama and Jeremy Sochan, who was added as an injury replacement, competed in the 2024 edition of the Rising Stars tournament.
The Grizzlies are sending a pair of Rising Stars to the tournament in Edey and Jaylen Wells. Thompson and Reed Sheppard will rep the Rockets, while Tristan da Silva and Mac McClung are representing the Orlando Magic.
The Wizards are heavily represented, with Sarr, Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly all in the pool. This marks the first time Washington has sent three players to the event, per Monumental Sports Network’s Chase Hughes.
The Thunder, who sent three players to the event last year, are represented in 2025 by Cason Wallace in his second straight appearance in the event.
McCann earned a spot on the team despite being held to just 23 games before suffering a knee injury that ended his rookie season. He has been ruled out for the rest of the season and will presumably receive an injury replacement.
The NBA rookies and sophomores, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted into three separate teams. The fourth team will be comprised of the seven G League players selected by the NBA office.
The three remaining seven-player teams will be determined when the 2025 Rising Stars Draft takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. ET.
