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All-Star Friday Night | Giannis Antetokounmpo ready for Rising Stars Challenge

By Frank Madden
Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sport

UPDATE: GIannis finished with 9 points (3/3 fg, 3/4 ft) in 17 minutes of Team Hill's 142-136 win over Team Webber, as Andre Drummond took home the MVP award with 30 points and 25 boards. Unfortunately Giannis was seemingly the only guy who wasn't intent on chucking up jumpers as soon as he touched the ball, though he did manage to squeeze in one rather impressive highlight before the buzzer sounded:

Good news: the Bucks will not lose any games this weekend.

Even better news: Giannis Antetokounmpo will have a chance to strut his stuff in front of a national audience twice over NBA All-Star weekend.

Giannis is among the 18 first and second year players taking part in the Rising Stars Challenge starting tonight at 8 pm central on TNT, so be sure to set your DVRs or stay in for the night, make Giannis your valentine and join us in the comments section for all the action.

While the league ditched the old rookies vs. sophomores format in favor of a draft format, it's interesting to note that Giannis is the only rookie on Grant Hill's team, while Anthony Davis and Jared Sullinger are the only sophomores on Chris Webber's team. Starters are being determined by fan voting, so

While Giannis' recent struggles suggest he could probably use a couple days off, the weekend is a great chance for him to mingle with the league's best while giving Bucks fans something to cheer for over a weekend that has generally been short on Milwaukee connections for a long time. It's also a chance to get some quality time in with his older brother Thanasis, who is also in New Orleans for Saturday's D-League dunk contest.

Jim Paschke reported earlier today on Giannis' exploits in New Orleans so far, he joined Frank Isola and Jerry Stackhouse for an interview on SiriusXM, Bucks.com has a ton of pictures and videos from the weekend, and he'll be center stage again tomorrow night during the Skills Competition. A sampling of Giannis-related fun:

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