It’s safe to say the lights were not too bright for Gradey Dick on Friday night.
The Toronto Raptors‘ sophomore guard balled out for Team T in Game 1 of the Rising Stars tournament at NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco. While his squad fell to Team C by a score of 40-34, Dick finished with a game-high 12 points on five-of-seven shooting from the field.
Previously, the 21-year-old mentioned how he and his dad made it one of his goals this season to be selected as a Rising Stars player, and when given the opportunity, he did not disappoint.
Dick scored the first two baskets of the game for Tim Hardaway’s squad on back-to-back acrobatic layups. Then, a few plays later, he nailed his first of two triples on the night — clearly the hot hand on his squad to start, scoring seven of Team T’s first 10 points. He accounted for nearly a third of his team’s total offensive output. The next highest scorer on his squad of youngsters was Magic rookie Tristan Da Silva with five points.
His final basket of the game helped cut Team T’s deficit to just five points, curling off a screen and splashing a pull-up triple from the right wing. That was as close as Team T got, however, as a couple of clutch buckets from Grizzlies guard Jaylen Wells gave Team C enough breathing room before Spurs rookie Stephon Castle iced the game with a jumper from the right elbow.
Keyonte George led Team C in the win with 10 points on three-of-five shooting with two made threes. The squad, coached by Warriors legend Chris Mullin, advanced to the Rising Stars championship game to take on Team G League (who advanced by upsetting Team M).
Dick made the most of the opportunity and was rightfully rewarded for it. The sophomore led his squad and the game in scoring and also led Team T in minutes played. The only thing he wasn’t able to do was recreate his favourite moment in All-Star weekend history, Vince Carter’s iconic 360 windmill slam from the 2000 dunk contest that was not-so-coincidentally held in the Bay Area 25 years ago.
Despite that, the rising star’s first taste of NBA All-Star weekend was still successful. And if nothing else, he was glad to make Masai Ujiri “proud” with the effort. The Raptors president made sure to attend Dick’s post-game presser so he could take a couple photos to capture the moment.
The Raps guard did so well, it nearly earned him a spot for Sunday’s festivities. Team C took down Team G League in the Rising Stars championship game — earning the right to participate on Sunday in the All-Star tournament as a fourth team against the NBA’s best. The group of youngsters is going to be coached by WNBA legend Candace Parker. As part of her managerial duties, she had to select one final Rising Star to her roster from one of the three losing squads.
While Parker ultimately opted for Rockets rookie Amen Thompson, she first praised Dick’s effort “knocking down some buckets and getting to the hoop”, admitting that her decision “came down to those two.”
Dick will surely hope his success on Friday night will translate for the second half of his season. He’s played 48 games for Toronto this year, averaging 15 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting 34.5 per cent from beyond the arc. He ranks fourth amongst all sophomores for scoring and three-pointers made per game.
Toronto drafted Dick with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft out of Kansas University.
