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Blake Griffin has been chosen for the player pool of the new Rising Stars Challenge, but he'll likely opt out to focus on the other game of All Star weekend.

Jae C. Hong - APMore photos »Browse more photos »The pool of players for the "Rising Stars Challenge" was announced today. The "Rising Stars Challenge" is the new format of the Rookie-Sophomore game from the Friday night of All Star weekend. Perhaps because the Sophomores have dominated that series since it's inception, this year they're doing it a little differently. As in years past, nine first year players and nine second year players have been chosen for the game. Instead of having them square off based on their entry year in the NBA, TNT analysts and NBA legends Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley are going to draft teams to play each other. Team SHAQ versus Team CHUCK! We Know Drama, indeed.

Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers has of course been included in the pool of second year players. He's the reigning Rookie of the Year, he's been selected to start in the actual All Star game, and of course he's in this pool. I highly doubt that he'll actually play in the game.

Last year with the All Star festivities in LA, Griffin participated in the Rookie Challenge, the Slam Dunk contest and the game itself, and was exhausted by the end of the weekend. This year, Griffin's already hinted that he won't dunk -- and he certainly has nothing to prove in this particular side show, so I assume he'll remove his name from consideration prior to the 'draft' which is scheduled for Thursday, February 16th, a little more than a week from now.

It's not unusual for players participating in the All Star game to opt out of the Rookie game, but it's at the discretion of the player. Griffin played last year, but Derrick Rose of the Bulls chose not to play two years ago as a Sophomore, focusing on the Sunday game instead.

In addition to Griffin, the other second year players chosen are DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Landry Fields (New York Knicks), Paul George (Indiana Pacers), Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz), Greg Monroe (Detroit Pistons), Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs), Evan Turner (Philadelphia 76ers), and John Wall (Washington Wizards).

The first year players in the pool are MarShon Brooks (New Jersey Nets), Brandon Knight (Detroit Pistons), Kyrie Irving (Cleveland), Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs), Markieff Morris (Phoenix Suns), Ricky Rubio (Minnesota), Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers), Kemba Walker (Charlotte Bobcats), and Derrick Williams (Minnesota).

As a quick aside, has TNT considered the hurt feelings potential here? What happens when it comes down to the final picks, and Shaq and Chuck revert to their school yard bully personas. "Oh man, do I have to have Landry on my team?" It could get hurtful.

The NBA has co-opted this idea from the NHL All Star game. It is quite cool and they make a big deal of it ? putting all the players in a ?draft room,? and having the team captains stand up and select each player just like a real draft.

One nice touch is that they give a free car to the last All-Star selected. So you might have to suffer the embarrassment of being deemed the ?worst of the best? by Chuck or Shaq, but you would get a free car to ease the pain.

by Chris McD on Feb 8, 2012 3:57 PM PST up reply actions I did not know that... About the free car. So it?s NEXT TO LAST that you don?t want to be. Sorry, Markieff.

by kikyexcel on Feb 8, 2012 2:33 PM PST reply actions the all-star game should be like this too have the coach from each side pick their team live on TNT as part of the Friday night?.

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