Jose Alvarado MVP Highlights from 2023 Rising Stars game
Jose Alvarado saw Cleveland All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell courtside and vowed that if he were given the opportunity, he’d make the game-winning shot in the title game of Friday’s Jordan Rising Stars event. True to his word, with Team Pau a three-point basket away from a championship, Alvarado swished a difficult, drifting trey over a defender from the right sideline, sealing a win vs. Team Joakim in fun fashion.
Jose Alvarado MVP Interview | Jordan Rising Stars 2/17/23
“This is an environment you always live for, when you were a kid,” Alvarado said on TNT’s postgame show of participating in NBA All-Star weekend. “I knew if I touched the ball I (would make the game-winner). It felt good the whole time. I knew it was going in the whole time.”
The NBA’s Rising Stars event for first-and second-year pros is intended to be entertaining and competitive, generally in that order. Second-year point guard Alvarado delivered some of both – providing some high-quality TV content while being mic’d up during TNT’s live broadcast, and sparking his team to a title with a pair of wins.
Jose Alvarado Mic'd Up LIVE during Jordan Rising Stars 2/17/23
In the opener vs. Trey Murphy’s Team Deron, Alvarado cracked up TV viewers with in-game comments such as “Oh hell no!” as Utah Jazz rookie center Walker Kessler launched a three-point attempt (no surprise to Alvarado, Kessler missed). Alvarado also talked some friendly trash to Murphy, driving for a layup against his New Orleans teammate, then yelling “On you!” as he ran back on defense. Not for lack of trying, but Alvarado did not come up with any of his trademark “Grand Theft Alvarado” out-of-nowhere sneaky steals, though he did pick off a pass under the basket for a theft vs. Team Deron. He scored a combined 18 points over two mini-games, including 13 in the opener on 6/10 shooting.