NBA reveals 2021 Rising Stars rosters on NFT platform NBA Top Shot

The NBA unveiled its 2021 Rising Stars rosters on NFT marketplace NBA Top Shot on Wednesday. 

The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball game that takes place at the annual All-Star Weekend when rookies and young players compete against each other. Because of the pandemic, the NBA isn't doing the game this year but is still recognizing some of the league's best players from the 2020-2021 season. 

According to a blog post published Wednesday, NBA Top Shot, along with the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, have "hand-picked" 20 individual Moments from the 2020-2021 season to highlight each of the players chosen for the U.S. Team and the World Team. 

"These Moments, immortalized as digital collectibles on the blockchain, will be available in an unprecedented NBA Top Shot set this weekend," the post explained. "Add your favorites to your collection when packs drop on March 7 or shortly thereafter on the peer-to-peer Marketplace."

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Named players include Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, whose highlights have already been sold for $100,000 apiece. 

NBA Top Shop did not immediately respond to The Block's request for comment. 

Dapper Labs, the company behind NFT collectible project CryptoKitties, also runs NBA Top Shot. NBA Top Shot has drawn thousands of users to its "Legendary Drops."

In mid-February,  the company was in the process of wrapping up a $250 million fundraising round at a valuation of approximately $2 billion. 

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Saniya More (pronounced: Saan-ya Mo-ray) is a quadrilingual journalist at The Block. She got her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and did her undergraduate degree at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University. Her work has appeared in CBS News, Bangkok Post, Thai Enquirer, Globalists, Byline Times and other publications. When she’s not chasing a story, you will most likely find her biking, tweeting, taking photos or creating Spotify playlists for every occasion.