Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox has been chosen to replace Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball at this year's Rising Stars Challenge, according to a report from Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports.
Sacramento rookie De'Aaron Fox has replaced Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball in the Rising Stars game at All-Star Weekend.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 14, 2018
Ball, now 20 years of age, has been dealing with a knee injury that will keep him out of commission until the All-Star break is over. Although the former UCLA standout recently said he “feels good enough to play,” he won't be participating in this season's All-Star festivities. In his 36 games played for the Lakers this season, Ball has racked up averages of 10.2 points on 35.6 percent shooting from the field (30.3 percent from beyond the arc), 7.1 assists, and 7.1 rebounds.
Fox, also 20 years of age, was the fifth overall pick in the 2017 Draft. The former University of Kentucky Wildcat has made 49 appearances with the Kings this season, averaging 11.3 points on 41.2 percent shooting from the field (32.6 percent from beyond the arc), 4.3 assists, and 2.7 rebounds.
Fox was already listed as a reserve for the Rising Stars event, so it should come as no surprise that he was chosen as a replacement. Now, with Ball being held out, Fox will have an opportunity to display his skill-set on national television.
This year's Rising Stars Challenge will be held at the Staples Center on Friday, February 16. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. EST with TNT having live broadcast coverage. For a full schedule of this season's All-Star events, hoops fans can head over to this link from NBA.com.
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