Five things you may not know about Jrue Holiday
By: Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com, @Jim_Eichenhofer
1) Like the popular former VH1 show, Jrue Holiday may currently be experiencing the “Best Week Ever.” Just five days before officially becoming a member of the Pelicans, Holiday married Lauren Cheney, a USA women’s soccer star. The couple, who first met when they were students at UCLA, held their ceremony Sunday in California. Later this month, Holiday will join Monty Williams, Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson at the USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas.
2) When Holiday made his regular season debut with Philadelphia in October 2009, he became the first player to appear in an official NBA game who was born in the 1990s.
3) He was a high school basketball teammate of J.J. Meyers, the son of Pelicans TV play-by-play broadcaster Joel Meyers. Holiday and the younger Meyers won a California state title together at Campbell Hall in North Hollywood, when Holiday was a freshman. The following year, Campbell Hall reached the state semifinals, where it was defeated by a San Joaquin High team headlined by Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez. San Joaquin then lost in double overtime in the title game to Jeff Withey-led Horizon High of San Diego.
4) Holiday comes from an educational background. His mother, Toya, is a teacher and athletic director at Campbell Hall. “He comes from a quality family,” Joel Meyers said. “His mom and dad are great people. It all starts there. Jrue grew up in an incredible environment, surrounded by dedicated, committed people. That’s exactly what Jrue is like. He’s very mature for his age. He always was.”
5) A runner-up to Damian Lillard in the 2013 NBA skills challenge, Holiday worked extensively on his ballhandling from an early age. “I don’t remember ever seeing him without a basketball when he was a kid,” Meyers said. “That was part of his makeup. He was always working on his game. The Pelicans not only got a very good player, an All-Star talent, but they also got a quality person in the locker room. He’s a real down-to-earth, genuine guy.”