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Pelicans.com

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans rookie guard Buddy Hield a has been named a member of the World Team for the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star Weekend, the league announced today. Hield becomes the third player in franchise history to participate in the Rookie Challenge or Rising Stars Challenge, and the first since Anthony Davis in 2014.

Hield, 6-4, 215, was selected by New Orleans with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft after a four-year career at the University of Oklahoma. In 45 games (25 starts) so far during his rookie campaign, the Freeport, Bahamas native has averaged 8.8 points (ranked fourth among rookies) while shooting .373 from three-point range, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 20.1 minutes per game. Hield was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December after leading West rookies in scoring (10.6 ppg) and three-point field goal percentage (.478) and topped all first-year players in three-pointers made (33).

Joining Hield on the World Team is Joel Embiid (Cameroon) of the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as two members of the 2015-16 NBA All-Rookie First Team in Serbian center Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks, along with Emmanuel Mudiay (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Jamal Murray (Canada) of the Denver Nuggets, Danté Exum (Australia) and Trey Lyles (Canada) of the Utah Jazz, Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania) of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dario Saric (Croatia) of the 76ers.

The U.S. Team features Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Devin Booker and Marquese Chriss of the Phoenix Suns, Malcolm Brogdon of the Milwaukee Bucks, Brandon Ingram and D’Angelo Russell of the Los Angeles Lakers, Frank Kaminsky of the Charlotte Hornets, Jhalil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers, Jonathan Simmons of the San Antonio Spurs and Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers.

NBA opening night rosters for the 2016-17 season featured a record 113 international players from a record 41 countries and territories.  This marked the third consecutive season that opening night rosters included at least 100 international players and that all 30 teams had at least one international player.

The NBA’s assistant coaches chose the rosters for the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, with each of the league’s 30 teams submitting one ballot per coaching staff.  Coaches selected four guards, four frontcourt players and two players at either position group for each team.  They also picked a minimum of three first-year players and three second-year players for each team.

The head coaches for the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge will be lead assistant coaches from the 2017 NBA All-Star Game coaching staffs.  The East and West coaching staffs are determined by the best record in each conference through games played on Sunday, Feb. 5.  Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and his staff have earned the honor for the West, while the East coaching staff has yet to be determined.

For the third consecutive year, the league’s annual showcase of premier young talent will pit 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the U.S. against 10 first- and second-year NBA players from around the world.  The game will be televised live by TNT from the Smoothie King Center at 8 p.m. CT on Friday, February 17, and will also be available on the Watch TNT App and on TNT Overtime.  In addition, ESPN Radio will broadcast the event, with audio also available on the ESPN app.  BBVA Compass, the Official Bank of the NBA, maintains its role as title partner for the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge.

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Buddy Hield to Participate in BBVA Rising Stars Challenge

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis has been named a starter on the NBA Western Conference All-Star team, the league announced today. Davis, a fourth-time All-Star, joins Chris Paul as the only other player in franchise history to be named an All-Star starter at least twice. Davis is also the second player to be named to at least four All-Star teams in franchise history, again joining Chris Paul.

Davis, 23, is averaging 28.8 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, ranking him third, sixth, and second in the NBA in each statistical category, respectively. His 27 double-doubles rank him tied for sixth in the NBA, and his 28.2 Player Efficiency Rating ranks fourth in the NBA. Davis has produced 20 30-point games and five 40-point games, including a season-high 50 points on opening night, as well as a league-leading 11 30-point, 15-rebound games.

Previously, the University of Kentucky product was named a reserve for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, was named a starter and was the leading vote-getter for Western Conference frontcourt players for the 2015 All-Star Game in New York City (was unable to play due to injury) and was a reserve in last year’s All-Star game in Toronto. Davis also appeared in the BBVA® Rising Stars Challenge in 2013 and 2014, and participated in last year’s Taco Bell® Skills Challenge as part of State Farm® All-Star Saturday Night. In the two All-Star games in which Davis has played in, he has averaged 17.0 points on .895 shooting from the floor, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 12.5 minutes.

Joining Davis in the starting lineup for the Western Conference is Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors), James Harden (Houston Rockets) and Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs). The Eastern Conference starting lineup will feature Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls), DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors) and Kyrie Irving and LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers).

Davis, who finished with 974,802 fan votes (fourth in the west frontcourt), also finished with 105 player votes (third in west frontcourt), and 78 media votes (third in west frontcourt).

Fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote to determine the NBA All-Star Game starters, while current players and a media panel accounted for 25 percent each.  Fans cast more than 38 million votes during NBA All-Star Voting 2017 presented by Verizon, a 146% increase from the same time period last year.
After all votes were tallied, players were ranked in each conference by position (guard and frontcourt) within each of the three voting groups – fan votes, player votes and media votes.  Each player’s score was calculated by averaging his weighted rank from the fan votes, the player votes and the media votes.  The five players (two guards and three frontcourt players) with the best score in each conference were named NBA All-Star Game starters.
The Eastern Conference and Western Conference starting lineups for the 66th NBA All-Star Game were revealed tonight on TNT, which will also unveil the All-Star reserves on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. ET.

NBA All-Star 2017 in New Orleans will bring together some of the most talented and passionate players in the league’s history for a global celebration of the game.  The 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Smoothie King Center, will reach fans in more than 200 countries and territories in more than 40 languages.  TNT will televise the All-Star Game for the 15th consecutive year, marking Turner Sports’ 32nd year of NBA All-Star coverage.  Smoothie King Center will also host the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Friday, Feb. 17 and State Farm All-Star Saturday Night on Saturday, Feb. 18.  The NBA All-Star Practice, NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and NBA Development League All-Star Game presented by Kumho Tire will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

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Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis Named Starter on Western Conference All-Star Team

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all‑star 16

Buddy Hield to Participate in BBVA Rising Stars Challenge

Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis Named Starter on Western Conference All-Star Team