For the sixth straight year the Sacramento Kings will not have a representative in the NBA All-Star game. The Kings will, however, have two rookies playing All-Star Weekend.
Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans and Omri Casspi were selected to the 2010 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 12 in Dallas during the NBA All-Star 2010 festivities.
Eighteen players throughout the league were selected to participate in the rookie and sophomore game, chosen by NBA assistant coaches across the country, with each team submitting one ballot.
Sacramento's Tyreke Evans, right. (Photo courtesy Tom Paniagua)
Evans is averaging a team-leading 20.8 points (45.8 FG%, 79.1 FT%), 4.8 rebounds, a team-high 4.9 assists, 1.50 steals, and 37.1 minutes per game in starting 40 contests this season. A two-time Western Conference Rookie of Month award-winner, Evans leads all rookies in scoring and minutes played, and is second in assists and steals.
Casspi, the first Israeli-born player in the NBA, is averaging 12.2 points (47.5 FG%, 39.6 3pt%, 63.3 FT%), 4.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 27.6 minutes per game in 42 appearances, including 16 starts. Among rookies, Casspi is ranked third in three-point field goal percentage, fourth in field goal percentage, fifth in scoring and tied for fifth in rebounding.
Sacramento's Omri Casspi. (Photo courtesy Tom Paniagua)
The Sacramento duo will team up with Chicago Bulls forward Taj Gibson, Detroit Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jonny Flynn, Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden, and San Antonio forward/center DeJuan Blair.
They’ll suit up to face the sophomore team, consisting of T-Mobile Rookie of the Year and Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley, Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Gordon, Minnesota Timberwolves forward-center Kevin Love, New Jersey Nets center Brook Lopez, New York Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, and a pair of teammates from the Memphis Grizzlies – center Marc Gasol and guard O.J. Mayo.
The last time a Kings player participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend was in 2004 when Brad Miller and Peja Stojakovic were members of the Western Conference All-Star team. Stojakovic also was a 3-Point Shootout participant that year, finishing second. Evans and Casspi become the seventh and eighth Kings players to play in the Rookie Challenge, joining Brian Grant and Michael Smith (1995), Tyus Edney (1996), Michael Stewart (1998), Jason Williams (2000), and Hedo Turkoglu (2002).
For more on the Sacramento Kings, visit TheSportsInformant.com.
Comments