New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado was the star of the show on Friday as he took home MVP honors in the NBA Rising Stars tournament. Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was in attendance watching courtside and he just had to take notice of Alvarado’s eye-opening performance on the evening.
After scoring 13 points for Team Pau in their win over Team Deron in their opening game, Alvarado came up big again in the final match against Team Joakim. The Pels stud ended up hitting the game-winner to secure the title for his squad, but it did not come before an epic side bet with Donovan Mitchell:
Alvarado approached Mitchell right before his heroic game-winner. The Pels guard told Donovan exactly what he wanted to do. Alvarado absolutely delivered on his promise by hitting the game-winner in epic fashion:
It’s hard not to admire Jose Alvarado and what he bring to the table. He’s no star (well, now we can say that he’s officially a Rising Star), but the injection of energy he delivers for the Pelicans is invaluable. As you may have noticed, he has a bit of a clutch gene too, and he won’t shy away from the big shot whenever he gets the chance.
For his part, it is clear that Donovan Mitchell was left impressed by Alvarado’s heroics. The Cavs star also conceded that he will pay up his debt in the form of a free dinner for the Pels stud. Let’s just hope Mitchell takes Alvarado out for a good (and pricey) meal.