Making his career playoff debut on Sunday (April 17) was Pelicans rookie point guard Jose “Grand Theft” Alvarado, who has made a name for himself for the sneaky steals he gets during games with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Alvarado, who is Puerto Rican-Mexican, just signed a 4-year, $6.5 million contract with New Orleans after splitting his time with them and its NBA G League affiliate team. During the regular season, he averaged 6.1 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. In 54 games, he averaged 15.4 minutes of playing time and shot 45 percent from the floor.
He was below those numbers during his first playoff game, but fans are looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the rest of the series as it continues with Game 2 on Tuesday (April 19) and Game 3 on Friday (April 22). Until then, here are a few facts about Jose Alvarado that you might like to know before he hits the court again.
1
How It Started
Alvarado played basketball for Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, Queens, New York. When he was a senior, he recorded the school’s first quadruple-double ever with 18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals. After high school, Alvarado played four years at Georgia Tech before going undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft. He played 106 games of college basketball for the Yellow Jackets and averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals for his team. During his senior year, he was named the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Year.
2
Strength in Numbers
Alvarado ranked sixth among rookies in Player Efficiency Rating (PER), which uses a specialized formula to give an overall rating of a player’s per-minute statistical performance. The league average is 15.00 every season. Alvarado’s was 16.46. This is higher than the PER of all three finalists for this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year award – Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Scottie Barnes.
3
Pay the Price
Earlier this year before he had signed his contract with the Pelicans, Alvarado and Philadelphia 76ers star center Joel Embiid each picked up a technical foul for a confrontation they had on the court during a game. Technical fouls come with a $2,000 fine, which isn’t something Alvarado could afford at the time. He joked about it later with Embiid and the big man ended up paying Alvarado’s fine for him.
“I just felt like that’s the least I could do because I made him pick up the tech,” Embiid said. “And obviously he doesn’t make as much as other guys in the league, so I just felt like that was on me. I didn’t want him to lose that money because I’m sure we all need it.”
4
Team PR
Alvarado is joining the Puerto Rico men’s national team, which means he will play against Team USA in the World Cup basketball qualifying tournament this upcoming summer. Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rico’s national team general manager, presented Alvarado with the national team’s jersey last week after their play-in game win against San Antonio.
5
New Daddy
Alvarado and his girlfriend, Flor Castillo, welcomed a daughter to the world on February 5, 2020. It was Alvarado’s first child. The couple named the baby Nasanin (“Naz” for short). The week of the birth, Alvarado’s college coach at the time joked that he told the baby that she couldn’t be born until they finished an important game that week. “She’s a great listener,” the coach said. “So, I said, ‘Listen, your daddy’s very hardheaded, so listen to coach here.’”