The NBA announced the rosters for its annual Rising Stars Challenge, an All-Star Weekend staple. This year the event will pit four teams against each other in a mini-tournament: three teams composed of rookies and sophomores and one composed of G League players.
Three Wizards were selected to participate in the challenge. Rookies Alex Sarr and Bub Carrington, as well as second-year player Bilal Colibaly, are among the young studs who will have a chance to show off their talents in front of the All-Star Weekend crowd.
The Wizards’ Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr have been selected to play in the Rising Stars event Feb. 14 at All-Star Weekend, the NBA just announced.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) January 28, 2025
With three players selected, the Wizards have the most representation out of any NBA team in the Rising Stars Challenge. Like the Wizards, the Memphis Grizzlies also saw two rookies selected — Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells — but none of their sophomores were picked. On the G League side, no Capital City Go-Go players made the cut.
The 21 rookies and sophomores will be drafted onto three teams, who will all compete against a fourth team composed of G League players. The winning team in the tournament is awarded a bid in the new and improved All-Star game, which has similarly been reworked into a mini-tournament.
As Greg Finberg pointed out on Twitter, all three of the Wizards’ lottery picks from the past two drafts were selected. That’s an impressive feat that illustrates the scouting prowess of this brand new Wizards front office.
The Wizards have three players in this year’s NBA Rising Stars game:
— Greg Finberg (@GregFinberg) January 28, 2025
• Bilal Coulibaly
• Alex Sarr
• Bub Carrington
All three of Washington’s lottery picks since 2023 will be present at All-Star Weekend pic.twitter.com/Wmtll84zu0
The last Wizard to be selected for the Rising Stars Challenge was Coulibaly last season. Before that, the last two Wizards selected were Rui Hachimura and Deni Advija in 2021. That season, the game was not actually held due to the pandemic, and instead rosters were unceremoniously revealed.
The format was much different back then, with two teams: one consisting of American-born players and one consisting of foreign-born players. The Wizards tended to have much stronger international youngsters back then, with players like Hachimura, Avdija, and Moritz Wagner earning selections.
John Wall is the only Wizard to have won the MVP award of the event. This, however, is not a straightforward indicator of future NBA stardom, as some of the players who have won in the last 15 years include DeJuan Blair, Tyreke Evans, and Jose Alvarado.
Current Wizard Kyle Kuzma won MVP of the event as a sophomore in 2019 after scoring 35 points. Kuzma was playing for the Lakers at the time.
The Rising Stars Challenge begins at 9 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14.