With four teams and with members of the G League development league. This will be the game with rookies and “sophomores” (second-year players) in the NBA All-Star Weekend to be held from February 18 to 20 in Cleveland, Ohio (USA).
Known as the All-Star Rising Stars, this matchup previously pitted rookies against sophomores and then players from the United States against players from the rest of the world chosen from both rookies and sophomores.
But the NBA announced Tuesday that its 2022 edition will have significant changes.
12 rookies, 12 sophomores and 4 more from the G League will be chosen first.
With that total of 28 names, four teams will be formed, which will be led by four members of the list of the 75 best players in NBA history that the league has unveiled this year to celebrate its 75 years of competition.
The teams will meet in a Final Four format (two semifinals and one final with the winners of both crosses).
Instead of being played on time, these matches will be won by whoever reaches a score first, a format that has been used previously in the All-Star match.
As a tribute to the 75th anniversary of the NBA, the semifinals will be played until one of the teams reaches 50 points, while in the final the objective will be to reach 25 points.
On the other hand, the NBA also unveiled the Clutch Challenge competition in which players must score from five positions on the court related to historic moments and iconic NBA shots.