The 2013 NBA All-Star festivities kicks off Friday night in Houston with the NBA Rising Star competition scheduled for a 9:00 pm ET start time.
Watch 2013 NBA Rising Stars competition, click here.
It will be Team Shaq vs. Team Barkley as TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley coach a cast of young rising stars.
With a group that features Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker, Team Shaq is centered around quick, sweet-shooting point guards with tight ball-handling skills. O'Neal may have been a strong dominate force back in his playing years, but as a coach he decided to select players more likely to run the court and rain three-pointers than pass the ball down low and stand around.
Shaq's team will feature Lillard, Irving, Andrew Nicholson (replacing Andre Drummond), Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Chandler Parsons, Dion Waiters, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Tyler Zeller and Kemba Walker.
Meanwhile, Barkley's team is more suited for defense and rebounding.
Chuck's team includes Davis, Rubio, Shved, Kenneth Faried, Kawhi Leonard, Bradley Beal, Tristan Thompson, Nikola Vucevic, Brandon Knight, Isaiah Thomas.
Barkley likely imagines his roster getting loads of extra opportunities as a result of its advantage on the boards.
Davis, Faried, Leonard, Thompson and Vucevic are all very good rebounders, while Rubio and Beal should be able to run the court in transition in what should be a fast-paced game. Leonard's ability to knock down spot-up three-pointers should also be a major benefit to a roster that will need its perimeter scorers to step up.
