3 young Wolves hyped for NBA All-Star festivities

NBA All-Star Weekend 2016 has special meaning for Andrew Wiggins. The Timberwolves star is in his second year with the club and set to compete in the Rising Stars Challenge on Feb. 12 in his hometown of Toronto.

While All-Star festivities are typically held on a U.S. court, Wiggins is especially excited about his fellow Canadians getting in on the hype.

“People who never got a chance to experience something like that before, especially the younger generation, it’s always good,” he said. “It’s one thing watching it on TV and another thing watching it live in person.”

Wiggins was last season's NBA Rookie of the Year, and he’ll face teammate and rookie Karl-Anthony Towns, who has won two straight NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards. Wiggins carried last year’s Rising Stars Challenge World squad, dropping 22 points in a 121-112 victory over the USA team. The matchup was initially set up as a contest between teams of rookies, then rookies against sophomores, and now, it’s international against U.S. players.

Meanwhile, teammate Zach LaVine is hoping to leave Toronto with his second-straight dunk title. He says the goal is to get a perfect score of all 50s this year.