Jonathon Simmons has been selected to the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, the Spurs announced Wednesday.
The challenge will open the NBA All Star on-court festivities on Feb. 17 in New Orleans, and it will feature the top 10 NBA rookies and second-year players from the United States against the top 10 first-and-second-year NBA players from around the world.
Simmons did not take a direct path to the NBA. After playing for the Spurs’ development league team for two seasons, he became one of just a handful of players who turned an open D-League tryout into an NBA contract when the Spurs signed him to the team in the summer of 2015.