Linsanity will take over Orlando on All-Star Weekend.
After Jeremy Lin’s incredible two weeks, the NBA found a way to get the Knicks point guard involved in the All-Star festivities by making him a participant in the league’s Rising Stars Challenge game.
He’ll be joined in Orlando by teammates Landry Field, also in the Rising Stars game, and Iman Shumpert, selected for the Slam Dunk competition — and according to a source, Shumpert would love assistance from Lin. Rumors are Shumpert may leap over a beat-up couch to satirize Lin’s former sleeping conditions at his brother’s home.
The Rising Stars teams, consisting of rookies and second-year players, were supposed to have nine players apiece, after 18 players were selected to play by assitant coaches from across the NBA earlier this month.
But, as TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal were preparing to make their opening selections (the teams are no longer split on rookie-sophomore lines), the game’s commissioner, fellow TNT analyst Kenny Smith, added Heat guard Norris Cole to the list of eligible rookies before adding Lin to the list of sophomores.
It didn’t take long for Lin to go off the board. After O’Neal opened the draft by taking Clippers star Blake Griffin, Barkley followed with Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, and O’Neal quickly chose Lin with the third overall pick.
“I was surprised Charles didn’t take Lin, so I had to take him,” O’Neal said following the draft.
O’Neal also chose Fields with the 13th pick. Also on Lin and Field’s team are Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio, Pistons center Greg Monroe and Bobcats point guard Kemba Walker, among others.
The game will be played Friday, starting at 9 p.m. on TNT.
Shumpert will compete with Indiana’s Paul George, Houston’s Chase Budinger and Minnesota’s Derrick Williams.