- Rookie Challenge
The Rookie Challenge is a competition held during the
NBA All-Star Weekend on the day prior to the regular All-Star game. From 1994 until 1998, the event was called the "Rookie Game," and composed entirely of first-year players. Since the year 2000, the game has featured a team of standout first-year players against a team of the leading players who are in their second season of NBA experience. The format change was largely due to the cancellation of the event, with the rest of All-Star Weekend, in 1999 due to the lockout that season. In past years the NBA experimented with several other formats. This included an Eastern Conference rookies versus Western Conference rookies format, and arbitrarily assigning rookies to teams. Unlike regular NBA games, the game is divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar tocollege basketball . Like the 1997-2002 NBA All Star Games, players are allowed to wear their respective team uniforms: the sophomores wear their respective home jerseys and the rookies wear their respective away jerseys. The event is currently sponsored byT-Mobile . In the most recent game, the sophomore team won by a score of 136-109 andDaniel Gibson of theCleveland Cavaliers put on a show. He had a game-record 11 three pointers and 33 points to take home MVP honors.All-time results
The Sophomores lead the all-time series versus the Rookies 7–2 since the game changed to its current format in 2000.
Head Coach: Tom Thibodeau
Assistant Coach:Willis Reed 2007 game
The 2007 Rookie Challenge took place on Friday, February 16 at the
Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.Rookie Roster:
Head Coach:
Sidney Lowe
Assistant Coach:Elvin Hayes Sophomore Roster:
Head Coach:
Bob McAdoo
Assistant Coach:Doug Moe
**"Did not play due to injury"2004 game
The 2004 Rookie Challenge took place February 18th at the
Staples Center inLos Angeles .Rookie Roster:
Head Coach:
Cotton Fitzsimmons
Assistant Coach:Lou Hudson Sophomore Roster:
Head Coach:
Billy Cunningham
Assistant Coach:Bobby Jones 2001 game
The 2001 Rookie Challenge took place February 10th at the
Verizon Center inWashington .Rookie Roster:
Head Coach:
Al Attles
Assistant Coach:Nate Thurmond Sophomore Roster:
Head Coach:
Dave Debusschere 1997 game
The 1997 Rookie Challenge took place February 8th at the
Gund Arena inCleveland .East Roster:
Head Coach: Bob Lanier
West Roster:
Head Coach:
Cotton Fitzsimmons 1994 game
The 1994 Rookie Challenge took place February 12th at the
Target Center inMinneapolis .Sensations Roster:
External links
* [http://www.nba.com/allstar2007/rookie_challenge/ 2007 Rookie Challenge]
* [http://www.nba.com/allstar2008/rookie_challenge/ 2008 Rookie Challenge]
* [http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/rookie_alltime_results.html Rookie Challenge Recaps and Box Scores]
* [http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/rookie_alltime_coaches.html Rookie Challenge Coaches]
* [http://www.nba.com/history/allstar/rookie_alltime_teambyteam.html Team-by-Team Participants]
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