Friday, February 24, 2012
Brooks in Rising Stars Challenge tonight
By ESPNNewYork.com staff
Nets guard MarShon Brooks will play in the Rising Stars Challenge at 9 p.m. in Orlando, Fla.
The event was formerly known as the Rookie Challenge and pitted the best second-year players against top rookies during All-Star weekend. The format is different this year: TNT analysts Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley conducted a draft and built teams with a mixture of first- and second-year players.
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty ImagesBrooks at Friday's practice.
Brooks will play for Team Chuck. Knicks guards Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields will play for Team Shaq.
Other players with ties to New Jersey and New York:
• Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving of Team Chuck played for St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, N.J.
• Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson of Team Shaq spent two years at Saint Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J.
• Jazz forward Derrick Favors of Team Chuck was drafted by the Nets and traded to Utah in the Deron Williams blockbuster.
• Bobcats guard Kemba Walker of Team Shaq is a Bronx native who played for Rice High School in Harlem.
