Los Angeles Lakers two-way guard Scotty Pippen Jr. has been selected to compete in the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars game, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 17 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City as part of NBA All- Star 2023, the league announced today.
Through eight regular season contests for the South Bay Lakers, Pippen Jr. is averaging 24.3 points (.509 FG%, .410 3P%), 3.8 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.4 steals in 29.0 minutes per game. Additionally, the guard is leading all reserves in scoring. Pippen Jr. appeared in 16 Showcase games for South Bay, averaging 23.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.7 steals in 28.9 minutes. The rookie has appeared in six games for Los Angeles, averaging 2.3 points in 5.3 minutes.
The player pool consists of 11 NBA rookies, 10 second-year NBA players and seven NBA G League players. The 21 NBA players, selected by NBA assistant coaches, will be drafted onto three seven-player teams. The seven NBA G League players, selected by the league office, will comprise the fourth team. Four NBA legends will serve as honorary head coaches for Jordan Rising Stars: six-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol; two-time NBA All-Star and 2013-14 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah; 2008-09 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year and 2011 NBA champion Jason Terry; and three-time NBA All-Star and former Utah Jazz standout Deron Williams.
Terry (Team Jason), a current Jazz assistant coach and a former head coach of the NBA G League’s Grand Rapids Gold, will coach the team of NBA G League players.
All three games in Jordan Rising Stars will be played to a Final Target Score, meaning that each game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out. The semifinal games will be played to a Final Target Score of 40. The final game will be played to a Final Target Score of 25.
Tickets for Jordan Rising Stars are available at NBAEvents.com and through the NBA Events App.