NBA Rising Stars Challenge 2013: Player Pool, Start Time, TV Info and More

The NBA did away with the traditional Rookies vs. Sophomore challenge last year, instead pitting TNT’s Inside the NBA analysts and former superstars Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal in a battle of wits to draft and coach the best possible team out of the eligible first- and second-year stars.

This event was a huge hit. It returns this year, and it promises to be even better.

With so many great players entering the NBA over the past two seasons, there is sure to be a great product put out on the floor come Friday night of All-Star Weekend.

You aren’t going to want to miss these up-and-coming stars competing against one another, so keep reading to find out where and when to watch the contest, the results of the draft, a prediction on which team will win and more.

When: Friday, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. ET

Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Tex.

Watch: TNT

Live Stream: TNT Overtime

2013 NBA Rising Stars Challenge Draft Results

Team Shaq	Pick (Overall)	Team Chuck	Pick (Overall)
Damian Lillard (PG, Portland Trail Blazers)	1 (1)	Anthony Davis (PF, New Orleans Hornets)	1 (2)
Kyrie Irving (PG, Cleveland Cavaliers)	2 (3)	Kenneth Faried (PF, Denver Nuggets)	2 (4)
Andre Drummond (C, Detroit Pistons)	3 (5)	Kawhi Leonard (SF, San Antonio Spurs)	3 (6)
Klay Thompson (SG, Golden State Warriors)	4 (7)	Bradley Beal (SG, Washington Wizards)	4 (8)
Harrison Barnes (SF, Golden State Warriors)	5 (9)	Ricky Rubio (PG, Minnesota Timberwolves)	5 (10)
Chandler Parsons (SF, Houston Rockets)	6 (11)	Tristan Thompson (PF, Cleveland Cavaliers)	6 (12)
Dion Waiters (SG, Cleveland Cavaliers)	7 (13)	Nikola Vucevic (C, Orlando Magic)	7 (14)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (SF, Charlotte Bobcats)	8 (15)	Brandon Knight (PG, Detroit Pistons)	8 (16)
Tyler Zeller (C, Cleveland Cavaliers)	9 (17)	Isaiah Thomas (PG, Sacramento Kings)	9 (18)
Kemba Walker (PG, Charlotte Bobcats)	10 (19)	Alexey Shved (SG, Minnesota Timberwolves)	10 (20)

Predicted Winner:  Team Shaq

It seems the Big Aristotle made out the best when drafting his 10-man team, and he even had a little help from Kenny “The Jet” Smith in the last two rounds of the event.

Diesel wound up grabbing two electric scoring guards with his first two picks, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving, before getting a steal on some size with Andre Drummond at No. 3.

Klay Thompson will help stretch the floor, while Harrison Barnes provides a ton of athleticism from the SF position. Shaq Fu also lucked out by having Kemba Walker and Tyler Zeller assigned to his team, nabbing a much-needed big and arguably one of the better players late in the draft.

While Chuck’s team may be a tad more well-rounded, he doesn’t have the talent or scoring ability of Shaq’s team, which will doom him in this friendly competition.

 

Predicted MVP: Kemba Walker

It’s absolutely ridiculous that neither Chuck nor Shaq drafted the Charlotte Bobcats superstar, rather he was assigned to the latter’s squad by TNT analyst Kenny “The Jet” Smith.

Considering the former UConn standout is averaging a solid 17.3 points, 5.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals during the 2012-13 campaign, we imagine he’s going to play with a chip on his shoulder.

With defense hard to be come by in these exhibition games, we find it hard to imagine anyone on Team Chuck standing in the way of an angry Walker.

The only PG who plays above-average defense on the Round Mound of Rebound’s roster is Brandon Knight, and we don’t believe he’ll see much time over playmaker Ricky Rubio or scorer Isaiah Thomas.

Don’t sleep on the second-to-last pick avenging his poor draft status with a killer performance.