NBA Draft

NBA Announces 2026 Rising Stars Participants at All-Star Weekend

NBA All-Star Weekend is rapidly approaching, and the league recently announced the 28 players that will participate in this year's Rising Stars event.
Randall Sweet|
Jan 22, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) controls the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the second half at American Airlines Center.
Jan 22, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) controls the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the second half at American Airlines Center. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

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The NBA season continues as a few major events are set for the coming weeks.

The trade deadline, which is typically an eventful date, is on Feb. 5, with NBA All-Star weekend set for Feb. 13-15. Recently, the NBA revealed this season's All-Star starters, and on Monday, Jan. 26, the league announced the participants in this year's Rising Stars event.

The event features 21 first and second-year players who will be drafted into three teams by NBA legends Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter. A fourth team, filled by seven players from the G League, will be coached by Austin Rivers.

The four teams will compete in a pair of semifinal matchups, with the winner of each contest advancing to the championship game.

Matas Buzelis, Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Kyshawn George, Ajay Mitchell, Alex Sarr, Reed Sheppard, Cam Spencer, Jaylon Tyson, Kel'el Ware and Jaylen Wells were the second-year players selected. Of that group; Mitchell, Spencer and Wells were selected in the second round in 2024.

Buzelis, Castle, Clingan, Sarr and Sheppard were all selected in the lottery in the 2024 NBA Draft, while George, Tyson and Wells were picked in the back half of the first round.

Cedric Coward, Egor Demin, VJ Edgecombe, Jeremiah Fears, Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel, Collin Murray-Boyles and Derik Queen earned spots in the event from the 2025 NBA Draft class.

While the sophomore group contains players from throughout the 2024 draft class, all 10 representatives of the rookie class were selected in the 2025 lottery.

The Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies lead all NBA teams with three first and second-year players apiece in the Rising Stars event.

From the G League; Sean East II, Ron Harper Jr., David Jones Garcia, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Alijah Martin, Tristen Newton and Yang Hansen earned spots in the Rising Stars event.

Of the G League group, three rookies are part of the group, as Hansen and Niederhauser were selected in the first round and Martin was picked in the second round of the 2025 class.

Newton was drafted in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft, while East and Jones Garcia went undrafted in the same class. Ron Harper Jr., the older brother of Dylan Harper, went undrafted in the 2022 class.

The 2026 Rising Stars tournament should be a fun event that showcases a number of talented players from the most recent NBA Draft classes.

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall Sweet is a 2022 Oklahoma University graduate who has formerly written for the Norman Transcript and OU Daily. Randall also serves as the Communications Coordinator at Visit OKC.

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