Portland Trail Blazers centers Donvan Clingan and Yang Hansen, the latter representing the Rip City Remix, were among the most prominent players for their teams in the Rising Stars competition on the first day of NBA All-Star weekend, 2026 in Inglewood, California.

The mini-tournament featured three teams consisting of NBA rookies and second year players, along with one team of G-League stars. Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady were honorary coaches of the three NBA teams, while Austin Rivers was the honorary coach of the G-League team.

21 NBA rookies and sophomores were chosen via a ballot of NBA assistant coaches. Clingan was selected 18th for Team Melo. The seven G League players for Team Austin, including Hansen, were chosen by the NBA League office.

The mini-tournament consisted of two semi-finals in a race to 40 points with no game clock. The two winning teams advanced to the final, which was first to 25 points.

The first game featured Hansen’s Team Austin against Clingan’s Team Melo, meaning that one player for Portland would advance to the finals while another would be eliminated. Both Clingan and Hansen featured prominently in the game. Clingan started and won the opening tip, scored the first seven points for Team Melo, and finished with nine points, two boards and a block. His biggest demerit was getting a bit three-happy, taking four and making one.

Hansen came in with his team down 9-14. He =rapidly made an unguarded three pointer and converted on a conventional three-point play with a strong drive to the rim. He made the ensuing free throw to help his team fight back to take a three point lead. Hansen would finish as second-high scorer for his team with 10 points, shooting 80% from the field, making his only free throw, and notching two rebounds. Once he checked in the game he was never subbed out. His only statistical flaw was missing his second attempt from deep.

Hansen’s highlight was when he received the ball at the top of the key, faked Clingan out of his shoes and drove the lane for a layup, eliciting oohs from the crowd and a smirk from Clingan.

A 12-2 run for Team Melo sealed the win, and Clingan’s team advanced 40-34. His nine points tied him for team-high score with Reed Sheppard

In the all-NBA player semi-final matchup, Team Vince came out on top over Team T-Mac 41-36, with VJ Edgecombe the hero, scoring 17 points.

In the final, Clingan scored the first six points for Team Melo on a pair of three-pointers. He played all of the minutes in the final, but after those first two shots and a subsequent miss, he was largely a spectator on the offensive end. On defense he got dragged far from the lane and was pretty ineffective. Clingan did feature prominently in the last play in live action, rising up to challenge VJ Edgecombe’s would-be winning drive in the lane. While Clingan blocked the shot, he was whistled for a foul. With the score 24-23 for Team Melo, Edgecombe stepped up to drill both free-throws, defeating Clingan’s Team Melo in dramatic fashion.

Clingan finished with only those early six points, missing his one other shot, also a three-point attempt. As evidence of how much time he spent away from the basket on both ends, he managed just a single rebound.

The next Blazer in action will be Damian Lillard in the 3-Point Contest, scheduled for 2:00 PM Pacific on Saturday. That even will be followed by the KIA Shooting Stars and then the AT&T Slam Dunk contest. On Sunday, Portland’s Deni Avdija will play for the World team in the main mini-tournament, starting at 2:00 PM Pacific.