MIAMI (AP) - Heat guard Daequan Cook wants to play against Dwyane Wade. For one night, anyway.
Cook is one of three players inside the Miami Heat locker room waiting to hear if they're heading to All-Star weekend in Phoenix as participants in the rookie challenge, a game pitting some of the best first-year players against the league's top sophomore talent.Michael Beasley, the No. 2 pick in last year's draft, seems like a strong choice to be there, and Miami starting point guard Mario Chalmers might have a shot at joining him on the rookie squad.
If so, they'll be coached by Wade, who'll match wits against sophomore team coach Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic.
"Dwyane already does enough coaching here," said Cook, who would play on Howard's team if selected. "In a live game, I don't know where his coaching skills are at."
The rookie challenge rosters could be released as early as Tuesday. None of the players said they have any advance knowledge of their status for the game, and ballots from the league's assistant coaches were due at the league office Monday.
"I'm in a win-win situation," Beasley said. "If I'm on it, I get a vacation to Phoenix, get to be around a whole lot of celebrities and a lot of cool people. If I'm not, I get a vacation in (Washington, his hometown) for four days. I'll take either one."
Combined, Beasley, Cook and Chalmers are averaging 33.2 points, accounting for a shade over one-third of Miami's total scoring. And the trio has been highly dependable for the Heat as well: Chalmers hasn't missed any games yet this year, Beasley and Cook have only sat out one apiece.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra made a case for all three players, with a particular emphasis on Beasley, who just turned 20 and entered Monday's game against Atlanta averaging 13.5 points, second-best for Miami behind Wade.
"People were so critical of Michael early on, and it really was amazing for me to see that," Spoelstra said. "He played himself into the rotation. That's how I looked at it. For a young player starting out at 19 years old with us, he was learning so many things at once but was still able to be productive offensively. And you could see it game to game, his defense was getting better and sharper."
Spoelstra gave similar praise for Cook and Chalmers, the rookie from Kansas who said there would only be one small problem if he was chosen for the game.
With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Chalmers said Wade is refusing to promise him any playing time.
"Going there would show that we're all working hard and we're helping our team win," Chalmers said. "It's paying off. ... It would be an accomplishment."
