NBA Alternative All-Star Weekend 2019: Rising Stars Challenge
By Ian Levy
The NBA’s All-Star Weekend is a celebration of the league’s best and brightest. Unfortunately, there isn’t room for everyone who deserves it. That’s why The Step Back is planning their Alternative All-Star Weekend.
The NBA’s Rising Stars game is all about celebrating the young up-and-coming players, the ones who will help define the next generation of the league. With a pair of 12-player rosters, there is room for both the rookies and sophomores who are commanding national attention and for those who are doing work for their teams below the radar and using this game as an opportunity to introduce themselves to a larger audience.
However, there’s a whole other crop of young players, those who built up pre-draft fanfare but, because of circumstances, injuries, or needed development, haven’t had a chance to break into their team’s rotations yet. Some of these players may never take the leap, but some are just an opportunity away from being meaningful contributors on important teams. The Alternative All-Star Rising Stars Challenge is dedicated to these players, much farther from the spotlight than they deserve.
We’ve eschewed the USA vs. The World format the league has adopted and gone back to rookies against sophomores, with both rosters built only from players have played less than 250 NBA minutes this season (as of Feb. 12).
Rookies
G — Brad Wanamaker
G — Lonnie Walker
F — Troy Brown
F — Jarred Vanderbilt
C — Robert Williams
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G — Jerome Robinson
G — Shake Milton
G — Isaac Bonga
F — Amile Jefferson
F — Dzanan Musa
F — Keita Bates-Diop
C — Isaiah Hartenstein
Sophomores
G — Kadeem Allen
G — Sindarius Thornwell
F — Guerschon Yabusele
F — Chris Boucher
C — Ike Anigbogu
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G — Edmond Sumner
G — Jawun Evans
G — Kalin Lucas
F — Tyler Lydon
F — Jonathan Motley
F — Zhou Qi
C — Tony Bradley
Both rosters are loaded with players with captivating potential who would be incredible to watch in this setting. Jawun Evans on the court, running pick-and-rolls with the bouncy Chris Boucher. Ike Anigbogu and Robert Williams battling for rebounds. Lonnie Walker shaking people out of their shoes and Jerome Robinson pulling up for 28-footers.
We might never see some of these players again but let’s acknowledge the fleeting nature of existence and let them have their moment in the sun.