Cooper Flagg, Alex Sarr out; Ace Bailey and Bub Carrington attend the All-Star Friday Rising Stars game
Injuries are forcing last-minute lineup changes for the 2026 Castrol NBA Rising Stars game, which helps kick off Friday night’s NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
Dallas’ Cooper Flagg (left midfoot sprain) and Washington’s Alex Sarr (hamstring) are now out of competition, their teams report.
Announcement
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 disappointment to the fans. Flagg lived up to the hype of being the No. 1 pick in the draft last June, he’s already an NBA star. With that, Carmelo Anthony made him the first 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 balance with the Jazz lately 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 3-pointers made this season while shooting 39.3 percent from three-point range.
How to watch Castrol NBA Rising Stars 2026
Where: Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California
Time: 9pm ET; championship at 10:35 pm ET
Announcement
NBA Rising Stars format
The top 10 rookies and top 10 sophomores, as voted by the league’s assistant coaches, earned spots in the game.
The Hall of Fame players and analysts from 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 made up of G League Rising Stars.
The teams will play in a consecutive four-team tournament format. Team Melo will face Team Austin at 9:00 PM ET, followed by Team Vince vs. Team T-Mac at 9:55 PM ET. The winners will meet in the championship.
In each semifinal game, the first team to reach or exceed 40 points wins. The championship game will be won by the first team to reach or exceed 25 points.
Announcement
Roster, NBA Rising Stars players
Team Melo
Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks)*
* Out with left midfoot sprainAdvertisementsReed Sheppard (Houston Rocket)
Stefone’s Castle (San Antonio Spurs)
Dylan Harper (San Antonio Spurs)
Jeremiah fears (New Orleans Pelicans)
Donovan Clingan (Portland Trail Blazers)
Collin Murray-Boyles (Toronto Raptors)
Ace Bailey (Utah Jazz)*
* Replaces Cooper Flagg
Team T-Mac
Kon Knueppel (Charlotte Hornets)
Three Johnsons (Washington Wizards)
Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards)
* Out with a hamstring strainAjay Mitchell (Oklahoma City Thunder, out due to injury)
Jaylon Tyson (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Cam Spencer (Memphis Grizzlies)
Zaccarie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks)*
* Replaces Ajay MitchellBub Carrington (Washington Wizards)*
* Replaces Alex Sarr
Team Vince
VJ Edgecombe (Philadelphia 76ers)
Derik Regina (New Orleans Pelicans)
Kyshawn George (Washington Wizards)
Matas Buzelis (Chicago Bulls)
Egor DÑ‘min (Brooklyn Nets)
Cedric Coward (Memphis Grizzlies)
Jaylen Wells (Memphis Grizzlies)
Team Austin
(G League Rising Stars)
Sean East II (Stars of Salt Lake City)
Ron Harper Jr. (Maine Celts)
David Jones Garcia (Austin Spurs) [injured, will not play*]
Yanic Konan Niederhauser (San Diego Clippers)
Alija Martin (Rappers 905)
Tristen Newton (Rio Grande Valley Adders)
Yang Hansen (Rip CityRemix)
Mac McClung (Chicago Bulls)
How to watch NBA on NBC and Peacock:
Every Moment of All-Star Weekend: Friday’s Rising Stars Challenge. (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, February 15 at 5:00 pm, earlier than previous years, which will lead to increased coverage of the event. Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
NBA Peacock Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week during the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday features doubleheaders on Tuesday nights during the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8pm ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones and an 8pm PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones.
Announcement
Check local listings every week. Both games will do that stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball on NBC and Peacock on February 1, 2026. For the complete NBA schedule on NBC and Peacock, Click here.
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