It might not be the NBA All-Star game, but today's Rookie Challenge game (4 p.m., TNT) will work just fine for the Charlotte Hornets' Lee Nailon -- at least for now.

"I didn't know what to expect when I came up here," Nailon said Friday. "Now, seeing all this, it kind of spoils me. I want to be here every year.

"Next year I'm going to try my hardest to be in the Sunday (All-Star) game."

Nailon, a 6-foot-8 forward/guard who barely played last season as a rookie, is midway through a season of abrupt change. Injuries pushed him early into a starting role and he's made the most of it, averaging 12.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 27.8 minutes a game.

That's a far cry from last season's numbers: 3.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 11.2 minutes. The rise in fortunes helped him land a spot in today's All-Star Weekend game matching rookies and second-year players.

Nailon is one of three players with Carolinas ties participating in the event at First Union Center. Others are rookies Shane Battier (Duke) of Memphis and Washington's Brendan Haywood (North Carolina).

"I'm pleased with the way this season is going," Nailon said. "I think I've learned a lot."

He spent most of the season at small forward, filling in for Jamal Mashburn (lower abdominal strain). Then last week, starting wing guard David Wesley went out with a broken bone in his left foot. Coach Paul Silas switched Nailon to the backcourt, moving George Lynch into Nailon's forward spot.

With Mashburn resuming practice and preparing to play on Feb. 18, another personnel shift is coming. Silas has said he will likely start Mashburn at guard until Wesley recovers, keeping Lynch at forward.

"If it's me who goes to the bench, I'm coming into games with a fire," Nailon said. "It seems like every day I'm getting more comfortable and confident."

? Donny Langford of the Charlotte Wheelchair Hornets led the East with 10 points in a 51-43 loss Thursday, as the West won the fourth annual NBA/NWBA All-Star Wheelchair Classic. The game matches the top players of 21 NWBA teams affiliated with NBA clubs.

Sting's Staley in Hoop-It-Up

Point guard Dawn Staley of the WNBA's Charlotte Sting will participate in today's first 989 Sports All-Star Hoop-It-Up competition. It pits four teams, composed of a WNBA player, an NBA player, an NBA legend and a celebrity in a three-on-three, half-court tournament.

Staley, a Philadelphia native and women's coach at Temple, will team with the Philadelphia 76ers' Eric Snow, former 76ers star Moses Malone and *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake.