Doncic to play in Rising Stars game, Nowitzki to be honorary coach

Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic, as expected, has been selected to play for the World Team in the 2019 Rising Stars game as part of the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, N.C.

Dirk Nowitzki has been named the honorary coach for the international team. The game is at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte at 8 p.m. Feb. 15 and will be telecast on TNT. Nowitzki played in the Rising Stars game in 2000.

Doncic, who received the third-most fan votes for the NBA All-Star game, leads all rookies in scoring (20.5 points per game) and is second in assists (5.4), third in rebounding (6.9) and third in steals (1.2). If he keeps those averages he’d become the third rookie in NBA history to average at least a 20-6-5 for a season. The others were Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan.

This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 7:00 AM.