TOLU SMITH SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2025 NBA G LEAGUE UP NEXT GAME PRESENTED BY AT&T 

DETROIT, Mich. – The Motor City Cruise, NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, announced today that center Tolu Smith has been selected to participate in the 2025 NBA G League Next Up Game presented by AT&T, which will take place on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 3:30 p.m. ET in San Francisco as part of NBA All-Star Weekend. This marks Motor City’s first player to be selected for the annual event.

Smith, 6-11, 245, is currently in his rookie campaign, holding regular season averages of 17.4 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 31.0 minutes per game. Smith secured 10 double-doubles in his first 14 appearances of the season, which set a franchise record for the fastest Cruise player to reach the milestone. The Motor City two-way center is currently ranked second among all qualified players (min. 12 games) in rebounds per game and fourth in field goal percentage (65.8%). Additionally, Smith is one of just four players currently averaging a double-double (Moses Brown, Malik Williams and Drew Timme). 

Prior to his professional career, the Bay St. Louis, Miss., native totaled five years of collegiate basketball (2018-24), appearing in 142 games with Western Kentucky and Mississippi State. Smith began his NCAA career at Western Kentucky during the 2018-19 season and appeared in 34 games with averages of 3.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.2 assists in 10.1 minutes per game. Smith finished his college career at Mississippi State University, averaging 14.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 108 games over four seasons (2020-24). Smith was also named First Team All-SEC in both 2023 and 2024. 

The Up Next Game will include 28 total players, which will split into four teams of seven. Ten players were selected by fan voting and the remaining 18 were selected by the NBA G League based on their performance for the season. The Next Up Game will take place at NBA Crossover during NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco and can be streamed live through Tubi. International viewers can watch the event on the NBA App.