Today, the NBA announced that Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was selected to participate with the U.S. Team in the 2018 Mtn Dew Kickstart Rising Stars during NBA All-Star Weekend.
Fox is averaging 11.3 points (.412 FG%, .326 3pt%, .730 FT%), 2.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 0.98 steals, and 27.2 minutes in 49 games (37 starts) in his rookie campaign. The Kentucky product ranks tied for seventh amongst rookies in scoring per game, fifth in assists, and sixth in steals.
Joining Fox on the U.S Team are Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers, the Atlanta Hawks’ Taurean Prince, the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Atlanta Hawks’ John Collins, the Bulls’ Kris Dunn, the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell and the Dallas Mavericks’ Dennis Smith Jr.
Fox will compete against World Team participants and fellow Kings guards Buddy Hield (Bahamas) and Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia). Sacramento will join Philadelphia to have at least three players appearing in the Rising Stars contest.
Prior to 2018, Sacramento has featured 11 players named to play in Rookie or Rising Stars Challenge dating back to 1994, with the most recent being Isaiah Thomas in 2013. Tyreke Evans earned MVP honors of the game as a rookie in 2010.
Sacramento Kings All-Star Rookie Game Participants1994 Bobby Hurley - Honorary Coach1995 Brian Grant, Michael Smith1996 Tyus Edney1998 Michael Stewart2000 Jason Williams2002 Hedo Turkoglu2010 Tyreke Evans (MVP), Omri Casspi2011 Tyreke Evans*, DeMarcus Cousins2012 DeMarcus Cousins2013 Isaiah Thomas*Evans named to Sophomore Team but due to injury did not participate