SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Congratulations, Team C. You've won the Rising Stars competition.
Your reward? A trip to the All-Star Game on Sunday night — where LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are among those who'll be waiting in the second semifinal.
San Antonio's Stephon Castle scored 12 points and won MVP honors, Keyonte George had a 3-pointer for the game-winning score and Team C beat Team G League — composed of players from the NBA’s developmental league — 25-14 in the championship game of the Rising Stars competition to open All-Star weekend on Friday night.
“We all wanted to play on Sunday," Castle said. “We all wanted to win.”
Combined, the seven first- and second-year players on Team C — Castle, George, Phoenix’s Ryan Dunn, Memphis teammates Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, Golden State’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dalton Knecht — have a combined 5,028 points, 25 double-doubles and no triple-doubles in their NBA careers. (An eighth player, Houston's Amen Thompson, was added to the roster after Friday's final.)
“All of us are about to play in our first All-Star Game,” Knecht said. “That's crazy. ... I might play against ’Bron, right? That true? I get to go against one of my teammates. It’s going to be a lot of fun to get a chance to go out there and make a statement.”
Team C — which will go by Candace's Rising Stars on Sunday, named for Candace Parker — will face the team drafted by Shaquille O’Neal in the All-Star semifinal. That means it'll be taking on James, Curry, Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Damian Lillard and James Harden.
That team, combined: 7,577 NBA games, 188,331 points, 1,812 double-doubles, 243 triple-doubles — and about $2.7 billion in on-court earnings.
But past stats won't mean anything in a first-to-40 game on Sunday night. The NBA stars will surely feel some pressure against a young team that has nothing to lose.
“Nobody will want to lose to that team,” Curry said.
Dink Pate of the Mexico City Capitanes and Leonard Miller of the Iowa Wolves each had five points for the G League team in the Rising Stars final.
Three of the teams in the Rising Stars tournament were named in honor of Golden State’s famed Run TMC days. Team T was named for Tim Hardaway Sr., Team C for Chris Mullin and Team M for Mitch Richmond.
George scored 10 points, Castle made the game-winning jumper and Team C defeated Team T in the first semifinal.
Toronto's Gradey Dick led Team T with 12 points in the first-to-40-points, untimed format.
Bryce McGowens hit a 3-pointer for the winning score and Team G League beat Team M 40-39 in the second semifinal.
Miller had 14 points for Team G League. Houston’s Amen Thompson had 10 points for Team M.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) looks to pass the ball against Washington Wizards forwards Corey Kispert, center, and Tristan Vukcevic (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
