Zach LaVine announced his presence on the national stage once again. On Friday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves guard put on another show en route to grabbing the MVP honors of the annual Rising Stars Challenge.
The reigning slam dunk contest champion put up 30 points, the most on the US Team, along with seven rebounds and four assists to lead his team to a 157-154 victory. In doing so, LaVine shot 13-20 from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc. And as usual, the high flyer put on a show by jumping higher than humanly possible and slamming home some killer dunks.
For LaVine, it was another show in front of a national stage. With the Wolves not garnering much attention, especially among more casual NBA fans, this sort of event is an opportunity for the former UCLA Bruin to showcase his talents. LaVine is the third wheel to a dynamic duo brewing in Minnesota with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns showing they will be a force to reckon with soon. However, that does not mean the young guard will not be a huge part of whatever success the Wolves get with this group.
LaVine will be back in front of the national audience on Saturday as he looks to protect his title of Dunk Champion as a huge favorite.