Team C knocks off Team G League to claim 2025 Castrol Rising Stars
The Spurs’ Stephon Castle takes home MVP honors to help Team C win the title and advance to Sunday’s All-Star Game mini-tournament.
From NBA.com News Services
San Antonio Spurs rookie and Rising Stars MVP Stephon Castle led the way with 12 points and two assists in the final, a 25-14 victory over Team G League.
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> Game 1: Team C 40, Team T 34
> Game 2: Team G League 40, Team M 39
> Game 3: Team C 25, Team G League 14
SAN FRANCISCO — Team C, comprised of five rookies and two second-year players, will play in the 74th annual All-Star Game on Sunday, having won the Castrol Rising Stars at All-Star 2025 on Friday night.
San Antonio Spurs rookie and Rising Stars MVP Stephon Castle led the way with 12 points and two assists in the final, a 25-14 victory over Team G League. He scored eight straight points for Team M at one point and found Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George in transition for the game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing. Team M trailed by four early, but then went on a 17-2 run to win the competition.
Team C ran out to an early, double-digit lead in the first semifinal. Team T was within four points late, but Castle finished them off with a step-back jumper from the right elbow, Team C’s fifth attempt at the game-winning bucket. Team C shot 61% and was led by George with 10 points, while Team T’s Gradey Dick had a game-high 12.
The second semifinal was a thriller, with the Portland Trail Blazers’ Bryce McGowens giving Team G League the win with a 3-pointer with his team down 39-37. It was a close game throughout and Team M left the door open by missing five of six free throws down the stretch. McGowens (12) and the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Leonard Miller (14) scored 26 of Team G League’s 40 points, while the Houston Rockets’ Amen Thompson led Team M with 10.
— John Schuhmann
Team C’s Stephon Castle is presented with the MVP trophy for the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars.
Honorary coach = Tim Hardaway
Honorary coach = Mitch Richmond
Honorary coach = Chris Mullin
Honorary coach = Jeremy Lin
* Rookies Ryan Dunn (PHX) and Matas Buzelis (CHI) along with sophomores Anthony Black (ORL), Toumani Camara (POR), Ausar Thompson (DET), Brandin Podziemski (GSW) and Julian Strawther (DEN) have been named replacements for the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars.
Rookies Jared McCain (PHI) and Yves Missi (NOP) along with sophomores Victor Wembanyama (SAS), Brandon Miller (CHA), Dereck Lively II (DAL), Cason Wallace (OKC) and Scott Henderson (POR) will not play.
The Castrol Rising Stars player pool consists of 10 NBA rookies, 11 NBA sophomores and seven NBA G League players. The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, were split into three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, comprise the fourth team.
New for 2025, the winning Rising Stars team will feature in the All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday, Feb. 16, competing against the NBA All-Stars. TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as honorary GM of the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace.
In the Castrol Rising Stars mini-tournament, Team C will face Team T in the first semifinal (Game 1), and Team G League will play Team M 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.
The winning Rising Stars team will play in the All-Star Game mini-tournament on Sunday, Feb. 16, competing against the NBA All-Stars. TNT analyst and WNBA legend Candace Parker will serve as honorary GM of the Rising Stars champion, known as Team Candace.
In selecting the NBA players for Castrol Rising Stars, each NBA team submitted one ballot per coaching staff. Each coaching staff selected four frontcourt players, four guards and two additional players at either position, in order of preference, for the rookie ballot and the sophomore ballot. Coaches were not permitted to vote for any player on their team.
The NBA participants for Castrol Rising Stars were determined by the total points each player received from the ballots. Points were awarded based on where a player was ranked on each ballot. The player pool includes one more sophomore than rookie based on total points received.
A trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers are among the four coaches who will serve as honorary head coaches for the Castrol Rising Stars.
The NBA announced Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond — all of whom are former Golden State Warriors players — will serve as honorary coaches as will former NBA player and Warriors guard Jeremy Lin.
Assistant coaches from the NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs – the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder – will join the honorary head coaches in coaching the Castrol Rising Stars teams.
Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway and Jeremy Lin will fill coaching roles for Castrol Rising Stars.
The Castrol Rising Stars champion will earn a spot to play in the NBA All-Star Game.
The 74th NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 16, 2025 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
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Castle wins Rising Stars MVP as Team C reaches All-Star Game
SAN FRANCISCO — San Antonio Spurs rookie Stephon Castle said the Rising Stars MVP trophy he hoisted Friday night isn’t the only hardware he plans to win during NBA All-Star Weekend.
Castle led Team C, coached by Chris Mullin, over Team G League, coached by Jeremy Lin, to a decisive 25-14 win in the final. Castle scored 11 points and collected one of his three assists on Utah Jazz rookie Keyonte George’s game-winning 3-pointer.
Team C won its first group game with Castle hitting the deciding jump shot to beat Team T, coached by Tim Hardaway Sr., 40-34. (In the first two games, the target score to reach was 40; in the final, the target score was 25.)
“To be a part of the game-winning bucket in both, it means a lot,” Castle said.
The Rising Stars game, made up of three teams with seven first- and second-year players and a fourth team with seven G Leaguers, was the start of a jampacked itinerary for Castle. The 6-foot-6 guard is also competing in the dunk contest Saturday night.
Asked what dunks he has planned for the showcase, Castle told ESPN: “I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’ll just say the MVP trophy isn’t the only trophy I’m trying to take home.”
The Rising Stars win earned Castle’s team a berth in Sunday’s All-Star Game, where it will go against Shaq’s OGs, featuring future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
“As a basketball player, it’s really all I can ask for, watching those guys all the time growing up, so to share my first All-Star Weekend with them and be able to share the court with them is a blessing,” Castle told ESPN.
Castle will join Blake Griffin as the latest players to compete in events on all three nights of All-Star Weekend. Griffin did it in 2011 as a rookie for the LA Clippers.
The All-Star Game will mirror Friday’s format, as four teams of eight players will compete in a mini-tournament with all three games played to the target score of 40. After particularly lackluster All-Star Games the past two years, without a whisper of defense or competitive zeal, the league changed things up with the hope of restoring interest in the February festivities.
“We’re out there with nothing to lose,” Castle told ESPN when asked about his young group’s chances going against the Shaquille O’Neal-coached team, which also has James Harden, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown on its roster. “We’re out there playing confident, playing free. So I just wouldn’t count us out.”
Coaching duties for Team C will be handed off from Mullin to Candace Parker for Sunday. Parker, acting as the team’s general manager, selected Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson from Team M, coached by Mitch Richmond, to fill the eighth and final roster spot for her team.
Team G League reached the Rising Stars final with an upset of Team M in the second group-play game. Bryce McGowen of the Rip City Remix hit a 3-pointer to clinch the win 40-39. McGowen’s closing shot was possible thanks only to Ausar Thompson of the Detroit Pistons — Amen’s twin brother — going 0-for-4 from the foul line with his team stuck at 37 points.
Castle and the Team C players earned $35,000 apiece for Friday’s win and will get the chance to earn bragging rights against some of their veteran NBA teammates Sunday.
Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht, Phoenix Suns rookie Ryan Dunn and Golden State Warriors second-year big man Trayce Jackson-Davis will line up against James, Durant and Curry.
“I’m playing against Bron, so I get to go against one of my teammates,” Knecht said. “It’ll be a lot of fun to go out there and try to make a statement.”
Asked if any trash talk will be exchanged between the 40-year-old James and the 23-year-old Knecht, the Lakers rookie quipped: “I usually don’t start it. I usually don’t start talking. I usually try to finish it.”
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NBA All-Star Weekend is always jam-packed with celebrities and wild events, including the crowd-favorite slam dunk contest. This year, two-time champion Mac McClung, who plays for the Orlando Magic, will return to defend his dunk title in a contest against the Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis, the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, and Andre Jackson Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks. The dunk contest is one of three events that comprise All-Star Saturday Night, which also features the Kia Skills Challenge and the Starry 3-point Contest.
Taking place in San Francisco this year, All-Star Weekend also includes the celebrity All-Star game and the Rising Stars competition on Friday, as well as the newly-formatted All-Star tournament and championship game on Sunday night. Get the full schedule of games and events at 2025 All-Star weekend including information about how to watch them all below.
Dates: Feb. 15, 2025
Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV channel(s): TNT, TruTV
Streaming: Max, DirecTV, Hulu with Live TV and more
Two-time defending champion Mac McClung of the Orlando Magic will be competing against the Chicago Bulls’ Matas Buzelis, the San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle, and Andre Jackson Jr. of the Milwaukee Bucks.
This season, the NBA’s All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest, as well as the Kia Skills Challenge and the Starry 3-point Contest, will air on TNT and truTV as part of All-Star Saturday Night. These channels are all available on platforms like DirecTV, Sling, and Hulu + Live TV, as well as on Max.
All times Eastern
Friday, Feb. 14
All-Star celebrity game, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN+)
Rising Stars competition, 9 p.m. (TNT, TruTV, Max)
Saturday, Feb. 15
NBA All-Star practice, 2 p.m. (NBA TV)
NBA HBCU Classic, 5 p.m. (NBA TV)
All-Star Saturday Night (includes Kia Skills Challenge, Starry 3-point Contest & AT&T Slam Dunk Contest), 8 p.m. (TNT, TruTV, Max)
Sunday, Feb. 16
NBA Legends Brunch, 2 p.m. (NBA TV)
NBA All-Star Semifinal, Game 1, 8:20 p.m. (TNT, TruTV, Max)
NBA All-Star Semifinal, Game 2, 9:10 p.m. (TNT, TruTV, Max)
NBA All-Star Championship Game, 10 p.m. (TNT, TruTV, Max)
This year, All-Star players have been split into four teams of eight players this year, each of them drafted by TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Candace Parker, and Kenny Smith. The team breakdowns are as follows:
Team Chuck: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, Pascal Siakam, Alperen Sengun, Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell, and Trae Young. (Giannis Antetokounmpo was originally picked to play but has been replaced by Young due to injury.)
Team Shaq: LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, James Harden and Kyrie Irving (who replaces an injured Anthony Davis).
Team Kenny: Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jalen Williams, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Cade Cunningham and Tyler Herro.
Team Candace: TBD
In addition, a huge roster of entertainers and athletes will be participating in Friday night’s Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, including Shaboozey, Noah Kahan, Terrell Owens, Matt Barnes, Walker Hayes and many others.
While we typically love Fubo for most sports, there’s one caveat when subscribing to Fubo specifically for NBA access, and that’s the fact that the platform doesn’t carry TNT, which will be carrying a majority of All-Star weekend coverage, including the dunk contest on Saturday. Fortunately, you can tune in to TNT, as well as ESPN, ABC, NBA TV and ESPN2 on DirecTV and Hulu with Live TV, which will give you access to all of the weekend’s events.
DIRECTV has the channels you need to watch All-Star Weekend’s basketball games live, including ABC, ESPN, TNT, FOX Sports, NBA TV & 40+ regional sports networks, making it one of the most comprehensive places to watch the NBA. You can also add on a subscription NBA League Pass so you won’t have to miss a single out-of-market game. After a free trial, packages start at $74.99/month.
Max has been “the one to watch” for entertainment fans for quite some time, but now it’s got sports fans covered, too. For an unspecified limited time, Max subscribers can get the new B/R Sports add-on totally free. That means you can watch live NBA games and All-Star Weekend coverage on TBS, TNT, and truTV, included in your Max subscription!
With NBA League Pass, you can tune into hundreds of live and on-demand games each season. A Premium plan lets fans stream on up to three devices at once with 4-game multi-view and 24/7 access to NBA TV. And now through Feb. 14, gift subscriptions are available for 30% off the regular rate; grab a 12-month subscription for someone you love for just $76.99.
