MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Second-year Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane has been picked to play in the 2022 NBA Rising Stars on Friday, February 18, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.
According to the team, Bane has started all 49 of his appearances this season while averaging 18.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.10 steals in 30.2 minutes. The 23-year-old, selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, currently leads all first-and-second-year players and ranks 12th in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage (.420) and ranks eighth in the NBA in 3-pointers made (141).
The TCU product has recorded 11 games this season with five-or-more 3-pointers and is on pace to break the Grizzlies single-season record for such games.
For the first time, Rising Stars will feature four seven-player teams competing in a mini-tournament consisting of three games. The pool of 28 players will consist of 12 first-year NBA players, 12 second-year NBA players and four players from NBA G League Ignite. The competition will consist of a “race to 75” points in honor of the NBA’s landmark 75th Anniversary Season. The semifinal games will be played to a final target score of 50 and the final game will be played to a final target score of 25.
Bane is the 19th Grizzlies player selected to participate in Rising Stars and will be selected in the Rising Stars draft by one of the four NBA legends, who were named to the league’s 75th Anniversary Team, forming the four seven-player teams.
The game was last played during the 2019-20 season when Jaren Jackson Jr. and Ja Morant represented Team USA and Brandon Clarke represented Team World. Morant and Clarke both were named to Rising Stars in 2020-21 despite the game not being played.
Rising Stars will air live at 8 p.m. CT on TNT.