Victor Wembanyama Takes the Lead in the Rosters of 2025 Rising Stars

During the NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco, the NBA announced the 2025 Rising Stars event’s player pool on Tuesday. Four French players are included in this selection, including Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, and the top picks from the previous two rounds, Victor Wembanyama (2023) and Zaccharie Risacher (2024).

This yearly occasion showcases the NBA’s top rookies and sophomores as well as standout players from the NBA G League. Four teams will be formed among the competitors for the competition, which will consist of three games on February 14.

Ten NBA rookies, eleven NBA sophomores, and seven G League players make up the player pool. A single ballot with four guards, four frontcourt players, and two more players at any position was sent in by each coaching staff. From this pool, 21 NBA players were chosen by NBA assistant coaches to be draughted into three teams, each with seven players. The seven G League players who will make up the fourth team were selected by the league office in the meantime.

One noteworthy change for the Rising Stars event in 2025 is that the winning Rising Stars team will play the NBA All-Stars in a mini-tournament of the All-Star Game on February 16. For the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace, TNT commentator and three-time WNBA champion Candace Parker will serve as honorary general manager. Prior to the game on February 4, the league will hold the Rising Stars draft. Honorary head coaches, whose identities will be made public later, will choose the three NBA All-Star teams.

Team A will play Team B in the first semifinal match when the competition begins, while Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal match. The champion game will then be played by the winners of these semifinals. The first team to reach or surpass 40 points will be crowned the winner of the semifinal matches. The first team to reach or surpass 25 points will win the championship match.

A player will only play for one of the three NBA All-Star teams on February 16 if he is selected to play in both the NBA All-Star Game and the Rising Stars tournament.