Lin's stock continues to soar

JEREMY LIN plays a week for the New York Knicks, sets all kinds of records and gets a special invitation to play in the Rising Stars Challenge game, which features rookies and second-year players during All-Star Weekend.

The Sixers' Evan Turner is in his second year in the league and is a key contributor off the bench for a Sixers team that is surprisingly leading the Atlantic Division with a 20-10 record.

But if the choosing of sides for the game is any indication, Lin and Turner are light years apart.

To fill the two rosters, "general managers" Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley chose from the pool of 20 players, with the last four having their names pulled from a hat.

O'Neal drafted Lin with his third pick and Turner . . . went into the hat, where he was placed on Barkley's team.

O'Neal had the first pick and took Blake Griffin and Barkley made the Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving his first choice.

Lin's invitation came after the pool of 18 players was selected, and the NBA was pressured to add him after he scored 136 points in his first five starts, most by an NBA player since the merger with the ABA in 1976-77.

Beyond his strong play, there has been enormous interest in Lin because he was undrafted out of Harvard and is the first American-born NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. Other NBA players have praised his feats on Twitter, and even President Obama is a fan.

Miami's Norris Cole also was added to make 20 eligible players.

- Mark Perner