The Rising Stars challenge is one of the most fun events of All-Star weekend. It’s like the appetizer before your entree gets to the table — it’s a delightful taste of what’s to come on All-Star Sunday. Over the last few years the league has taken the best international rookies and sophomores from around the league and faced them off against the 10 best United States-born rookies and sophomores.
It’s been really fun over the last few years and has helped us become familiar with rookies like Kristaps Porzingis, Jamal Murray, and even Joel Embiid from the bench in recent years. But have you ever wondered why that’s the case?
The league hasn’t always showcased the game in a World vs. USA format. It’s gone through many evolutions over the last few years to get to its current form.
Wait, so it wasn’t always World vs. USA?
Nope! It wasn’t even always called the Rising Stars Challenge.
The game was created as part of All-Star weekend in 1994 and was called the Rookie Challenge. The rosters were built similarly in number, but were filled out entirely by first year players from the Eastern and Western Conference. They also only played two halves of basketball.
I know, I know. That sounds awful, right? Believe it or not, it wasn’t that bad! The game featured some pretty good rookies like Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Nick Van Exel, and Toni Kukoc.
As you can imagine, the talent pool wasn’t always that great. But that isn’t why the format was altered the first time. The lockout in the 1998-99 season changed everything for the Rookie Challenge. The game was cancelled and the rookies from the 1998 season didn’t get a chance to compete.
So the next season, to give those former rookies a chance to play in the game, the league introduced the first Rookie-Sophomore challenge where they chose the best 10 rookies and best 10 sophomore players to compete against each other. It was a fun game, too, with Steve Francis showing out with 13 points and 11 assists in a 92-83 overtime win.
After that season the game had shifted. Sophomores were here to stay as part of the challenge. It wasn’t until 2012 that we saw another shift in the game to make things a bit more interesting.
Team Shaq and Team Chuck take over
In 2012, the league decided it was time to spice things up. BBVA had been brought on as a league sponsor for the game and they wanted to shift the format to bring more eyes to it after lackluster years in 2010 and 2011. Scoring totals were up and people were complaining about there being little defense and effort in the games.
So to get things jumping again, the NBA had Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley drafting the rosters for the teams. And, if nothing else, the process was hilarious whether you actually were entertained by the game or not. Here’s video of the 2013 draft.
Tell me that Anthony Davis’ disappointment there was not pure comedy. It was hilarious. Still, after a few years the format got a bit redundant. The league tried to shake things up by exchanging Barkley and Shaq for Chris Webber and Reggie Miller, but it still wasn’t as fun.
And that leads us where we are today. In 2015, the USA vs. World game was finally born.
So what made USA vs. The World an attractive format for the league?
The NBA has always had somewhat of a global presence. The league has had huge international players throughout its history like Yao Ming, Arvydas Sabonis, Dirk Nowitzki, and countless others.
But that hadn’t really manifested itself in the league until recent years. In 2015 when the game first started, there were 101 internationally born players from 37 different countries on opening day rosters around the NBA. In the 2000-01 season, that number was only 45.
And, at that time, there was so much international talent being picked prominently around the league. Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Dante Exum were three of the top five picks in the 2014 draft as international players. It made sense to format the game that way.
The league’s talent pool has expanded and we’ve seen the game benefit from that in recent years. We’ve gotten introductions to lots of international talent and the league has put that talent on the biggest stage.
During Friday’s game, we’re going to watch international talent like Bogdan Bogdanovic, Domantas Sabonis, Dillon Brooks, and other names we might not see all the time on League Pass or nationally televised games. It’s a great look for the NBA.
The move made so much sense for the league at a time when the Rising Stars Challenge needed life. Hopefully, the league continues to build on its success.