How to watch Oscar Tshiebwe and other ex-Kentucky players during the NBA’s All-Star events

Kentucky basketball fan favorite Oscar Tshiebwe has attracted a new group of admirers over the course of his first professional season, and the former Wildcat will be back on national TV as part of the NBA’s All-Star Game festivities this weekend.

Tshiebwe is one of 28 players that will compete in the Panini Rising Stars Game on Friday night, a showcase of young basketball talent featuring NBA rookies, second-year players and standouts from the G League.

Now in his first season with the Indiana Pacers organization, Tshiebwe — the former national player of the year and two-time All-American at UK — is on a two-way deal that has seen him split time with the NBA team and its G League affiliate, the Indiana Mad Ants.

He’ll be joined in the game by Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Cason Wallace, one of Tshiebwe’s teammates at Kentucky last season. “None-and-done” UK player Shaedon Sharpe, who practiced with the Cats for the final semester of the 2021-22 season but never played before going to the Portland Trail Blazers as a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA draft, was also selected for the Rising Stars event, which will be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. Friday on TNT.

Tshiebwe, who was not drafted last year, leads the G League with 12.6 rebounds per game, adding 12.2 points in just 22.5 minutes over 11 games in the developmental league. He’s spent much of the season with the Pacers, however, not getting much playing time at the top level but still making an impression on the franchise.

“Oscar’s a great story,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Tshiebwe’s selection for Friday’s game. “He’s a wonderful kid. Everybody in our entire organization just loves him. He’s just got such a warm personality. He’s always smiling. He’s always happy. He’s always talking about eating rebounds. Getting ready to eat rebounds. ‘Eat more rebounds.’ And he’s a machine. He’s a machine. So, it’s really cool.”

Tshiebwe is averaging 3.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 5.3 minutes over seven games in the NBA this season, making his first appearance in nearly a month in Indiana’s 127-125 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night.

Wallace, who was selected with the No. 10 pick last year, is averaging 6.8 points and shooting 41.2% from 3-point range for the Thunder this season, starting nine times and playing 20.7 minutes per game as a rookie.

Sharpe is averaging 15.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in his second season with the Trail Blazers, though he’s currently sidelined with an abdominal injury and will not play in Friday’s showcase.

The Rising Stars event will feature four teams playing in a three-game mini-tournament. The two semifinal games will be played to a score of 40, and the championship game will be played to a score of 25.

Tshiebwe’s team consists of other G League players, including 2024 draft prospect Matas Buzelis, a one-time Kentucky target now with the developmental league’s Ignite program. That squad will face a tough test in the first game, a matchup with the team featuring Wallace, as well as No. 1 draft pick and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, No. 2 pick Brandon Miller, second-year player Jabari Smith Jr. (formerly of Auburn) and a few other top rookies.

Former UK players Jamal Murray and John Wall are past MVPs of the Rising Stars event, which has been around since 1994 and has gone through several format changes over the years.

Tshiebwe and former UK players Ashton Hagans and Skal Labissiere will also participate in the G League Up Next Game, which will be played at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center and streamed live on nbagleague.com, the G League’s YouTube channel and the NBA’s app.

NBA dunk contest and more

The marquee event of the NBA’s big weekend will obviously be the All-Star Game itself, and this edition will feature seven former Kentucky players — Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey, Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns — a number that obliterated the previous record (four) for All-Stars from one school. The NBA All-Star Game is set for 8 p.m. Sunday (TBS and TNT).

Those won’t be the only former Wildcats in Indianapolis this weekend.

Jacob Toppin, a rookie with the New York Knicks organization, will compete in the AT&T Slam Dunk contest Saturday night.

Toppin’s competition in that event will be Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat, and defending dunk contest champion Mac McClung of the G League’s Osceola Magic. Former two-time Slam Dunk contest winner Dominique Wilkins will be among the judges.

Toppin has played 13 games with the Westchester Knicks in the G League and four games with the New York Knicks this season, tallying 11 points in 17 minutes — both season highs — in a loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. His older brother, Obi Toppin, won the Slam Dunk contest two years ago, and he’ll look to join Hamidou Diallo (2019), John Wall (2014) and Kenny Walker (1989) as the fourth former Wildcat to take home the dunk trophy.

In addition to Toppin in the dunk contest, Kentucky will be represented by Maxey in the Kia Skills Challenge and Towns in the Starry 3-Point Contest. Those events will also be held Saturday, along with a 3-point shooting contest pitting Stephen Curry vs. WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu.

Coverage of the NBA’s All-Star events Saturday from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will begin at 8 p.m. on TNT, with the Skills Challenge tipping off the night and the Slam Dunk contest scheduled to be the final event.

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