This year the NBA All Star weekend has replaced the "Rookie Challenge" with something called the "BBVA Rising Stars Challenge". Eighteen rookies and sophomores were chosen by NBA assistant coaches to form a pool from which TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal chose from to form two teams. At the last minute, two more rookies were added to the pool in Jeremy Lin and Norris Cole bringing each roster up to ten.
The teams were chosen earlier today on TNT. Go here to see the official TNT video.
The first overall pick (by Shaquille O'Neal) is duh... Blake Griffin. The second... Kyrie Irving (!) The strangest thing is that John Wall, first round pick two summers ago, doesn't go until the twelfth pick. Here are the rosters, in order of their picks:
SHAQ: Blake Griffin, Jeremy Lin, Ricky Rubio, Greg Monroe, Markieff Morris, Kemba Walker, Landry Fields, Norris Cole, Brandon Wright, Tristan Thompson
CHARLES: Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Derrick Williams, MarShon Brooks, John Wall, Gordon Hayward, Tiago Splitter, Evan Turner, Kawhi Leonard