Trey Murphy III Named to 2023 NBA Jordan Rising Stars
Trey Murphy III is going to be a busy man on NBA All-Star Weekend.
While Murphy isn't quite an All-Star yet, coaches around the league seem to think he's well on his way to becoming just that, as the former UVA star and second-year forward for the New Orleans Pelicans was selected to participate in the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars on Friday, February 17th at 9pm ET in Salt Lake City.
Rising Stars features four teams made up of a total of 28 players who are NBA sophomores, rookies, or G League players. Murphy was one of ten sophomores selected to play in Rising Stars and is joined by another Pelican teammate and former ACC basketball player in Jose Alvarado from Georgia Tech.
Four coaches - Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Jason Terry, and Deron Williams - will draft teams of seven players each to compete in the four-team mini tournament. The semifinal games will be played to a target score of 40 and the final game will be played to 25 to determine the Rising Stars Champions.
Murphy has enjoyed a breakout season in his second year in the NBA, more than doubling his scoring average to 12.6 points per game to go along with 3.7 rebounds per game. He is shooting 39.8% from three on more than five attempts per game and is shooting 47.8% from the floor in just under 30 minutes per contest. After starting in just one game as a rookie, Murphy has logged 38 starts through the first half of this season.
Trey Murphy III will participate in the 2023 Jordan Rising Stars on Friday, February 17th, joining De'Andre Hunter (2021) as recent former UVA basketball products to participate in the event. On the following day, Murphy will become the first former Wahoo since Ralph Sampson in 1984 to compete in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest as part of NBA All-Star Saturday Night on February 18th.
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