Lakers: Which “Rising Star” is most likely to make an all-star team first?
By Jason Reed
Although the Los Angeles Lakers have no representation in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball were all named to the NBA Rising Stars Challenge.
Starting off the 2018 NBA All-Star Game festivities, the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and Rising Stars Challenge took place on Friday. With the weekend hosted in LA for the first time since 2011, stars such as Justin Bieber, Jamie Foxx and LA’s own Candace Parker all suited up in the celebrity game. Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram represented LA later in the night.
Kuzma and Ingram both played in the Rising Stars Challenge Friday night, giving the Los Angeles Lakers their only representation during the weekend. Kuzma scored 20 for team USA while Ingram scored eight; Team USA fell to Team World by a score of 155-124.
Although Ingram and Kuzma are the only on-court representatives for the Lakers over the weekend, two other young stars were also going to be in the fold. Point guard Lonzo Ball was also named to the Rising Stars Challenge, however, his MCL injury ultimately kept him out of the action.
The fourth would-be Laker during the weekend? Larry Nance Jr, who is participating in the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest. Of course, Nance was traded from the Lakers to the Cavaliers after being named a contestant.
The next step for the Los Angeles Lakers is to have all-star representatives in the NBA All-Star Game. The Lakers’ last all-star was Kobe Bryant in his final season; the last all-star not named Kobe Bryant was Dwight Howard in 2013.
It is obvious that the young trio of Kuzma, Ingram and Ball are the most likely candidates to represent the Lakers in future All-Star Games. Thus, we ranked which young star is the most likely to receive the honors first.