Though he won’t be able to play in the game, Sixers’ Jared McCain was named to the Rising Stars Game as part of NBA All-Star Weekend.
Even though he hasn’t played in over a month, Jared McCain continues to provide positive headlines for this team.
The Sixers’ 2024 first-round draft pick was selected for the rookie team for the 2025 Rising Stars game. He will obviously not be able to participate as he remains out for the rest of the season with a torn meniscus.
The 2025 Castrol Rising Stars ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/X1zpomdES8
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) January 28, 2025
It says a lot about how impressive McCain was through the first two months of the season, as well of the state of this rookie class, that he still received his honors. While he’s now only played half the games, he still leads all rookies with 15.3 points per game. His eight games of at least 20 points and two games of at least 30 points are also the most amongst rookies.
Despite a weaker class, it will be interesting to see who replaces McCain’s spot, if anyone. Heat center Kel’el Ware has a good case after a strong month of January. In his last seven games he’s averaging 15.7 points per game, along with 9.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.
McCain’s injury will prevent him from participating in the game, but it’s very likely that’s the only honor any Sixer receives over the weekend.
Their only real shot now at making the All-Star game is Tyrese Maxey, who’s climbed up to 26.6 points and six assists per game, though he found himself on the outside looking in every leg of the fan voting process. Reserves for the All-Star game are set to be announced Thursday. It would be the first time since 2017 the Sixers don’t have a representative in the game.