NBA Announces Players For 2026 Castrol Rising Stars
Official Release /January 27, 2026
The 2026 Castrol Rising Stars were announced Monday on Peacock.
Rookies
Sophomores
NBA G League Players
The annual showcase of premier young talent, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games spotlighting the league’s top rookies and second-year standouts, is set to be played Friday, Feb. 13, at the LA Clippers’ Intuit Dome (9 ET, Peacock) as part of NBA All-Star 2026.
The selected NBA players will be drafted onto three teams on Tuesday (7 ET, Peacock), with a fourth team comprised of NBA G League players.
Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady will serve as honorary coaches for the Castrol Rising Stars mini tourney. Austin Rivers will coach the G League Rising Stars team.
In the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team A will face Team B in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team C will play Team D in the second semifinal (Game 2). The winner of Game 1 will meet the winner of Game 2 in the championship (Game 3).
For each semifinal game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. For the championship game, the winner will be the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
NBA assistant coaches determined the pool of 21 NBA players, with each team submitting one ballot. Voters ranked 10 rookies and 10 sophomores, with more points assigned to higher placements. The top 10 rookies and top 10 sophomores by point total earned spots. The final spot was awarded to the higher-scoring player among the 11th-ranked finishers in each class. The pool includes one more sophomore than rookie based on total points received.
An assistant coach from one of the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs will be named head coach of each of the four Castrol Rising Stars teams, working alongside the honorary coaches.
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