Injuries are forcing last-minute lineup changes for the 2026 Castrol NBA Rising Stars game, which helps tip off NBA All-Star weekend in Los Angeles on Friday night.
Dallas’ Cooper Flagg (left mid-foot sprain) and Washington’s Alex Sarr (hamstring) are now out of the competition, their teams report.
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Utah forward Ace Bailey and Washington guard Bub Carrington have been named injury replacements, the league announced.
With all due respect to Bailey and Carrington, this is a letdown for fans. Flagg has lived up to the hype of being the No. 1 draft pick last June, he is already an NBA star. With that, Carmelo Anthony made him the top pick in the player draft for the Rising Stars Game (more on the format below). Sarr has been more under the radar, but the No. 2 pick a season ago has played well for the Wizards, averaging an efficient 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this season.
Bailey has found his footing with the Jazz of late, and in his last 15 games, he is averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting 46.6% from the field. Carrington is averaging 10.2 points per game and leads Washington with 110 three-pointers made this season while shooting 39.3% from 3-point range.
How to watch the 2026 Castrol NBA Rising Stars
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Where: Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California
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Time: 9 p.m. ET; championship at 10:35 p.m. ET
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NBA Rising Stars format
The top 10 rookies and top 10 sophomores — as voted on by league assistant coaches — earned spots in the game.
Hall of Fame players and analysts on NBC’s Showtime show — Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady — each drafted a team of seven players. The fourth team, coached by current NBC Sports analyst Austin Rivers, is composed of G League Rising Stars.
The teams will play in a straight four-team tournament format. Team Melo will face Team Austin at 9 p.m. ET, followed by Team Vince vs. Team T-Mac at 9:55 p.m. ET. The winners will meet in the championship.
In each semifinal game, the winner is the first team to reach or surpass 40 points. The championship game will be won by the first team to reach or surpass 25 points.
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Rosters, players in NBA Rising Stars
Team Melo
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Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)*
* Out with left midfoot sprain -
Reed Sheppard (Houston Rockets)
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Stephon Castle (San Antonio Spurs)
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Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs)
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Jeremiah Fears (New Orleans Pelicans)
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Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)
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Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto Raptors)
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Ace Bailey (Utah Jazz)*
* Replaces Cooper Flagg
Team T-Mac
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Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)
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Tre Johnson (Washington Wizards)
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Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)
* Out with hamstring strain -
Ajay Mitchell (Oklahoma City Thunder, out with an injury)
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Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
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Cam Spencer (Memphis Grizzlies)
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Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks)*
* Replaces Ajay Mitchell -
Bub Carrington (Washington Wizards)*
* Replaces Alex Sarr
Team Vince
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VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers)
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Derik Queen (New Orleans Pelicans)
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Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards)
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Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls)
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Egor Dёmin (Brooklyn Nets)
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Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies)
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Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies)
Team Austin
(G League Rising Stars)
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Sean East II (Salt Lake City Stars)
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Ron Harper Jr. (Maine Celtics)
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David Jones Garcia (Austin Spurs) [injured, will not play*]
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Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (San Diego Clippers)
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Alijah Martin (Raptors 905)
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Tristen Newton (Rio Grande Valley Vipers)
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Yang Hansen (Rip City Remix)
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Mac McClung (Chicago Bulls)
How to watch NBA on NBC and Peacock:
Every moment of All-Star Weekend — the Rising Stars challenge on Friday. (Feb. 13), All-Star Saturday Night with the 3-Point Contest and Dunk Contest (Feb. 14), as well as the All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 15 — will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock.
The 75th NBA All-Star Game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. Eastern, a time earlier than in previous years, leading into more coverage of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones.
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Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
How to sign up for Peacock:
Sign up here to watch all of our LIVE sports, sports shows, documentaries, classic matches, and more. You’ll also get tons of hit movies and TV shows, Originals, news, 24/7 channels, and current NBC & Bravo hits—Peacock is here for whatever you’re in the mood for.
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