Jose Alvarado (born April 12, 1998) is a Puerto Rican-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Confere ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He is nicknamed "Grand Theft Alvarado" due to his ability to create steals. Alvarado represents

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

internationally since 2022. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The teams have also been nicknamed the ...

Early life

Alvarado played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in his childhood but quit after injuring his neck. He played basketball for

Christ the King Regional High School Christ the King Regional High School is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic high school for grades 9–12 located in Middle Village, Queens, New York, United States and established in 1962. It is located within the Roman Catholi ...

Middle Village, Queens Middle Village is a neighborhood in the central section of the Borough (New York City), borough of Queens, New York City, bounded to the north by the Long Island Expressway, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue and t ...

in New York City. As a junior, Alvarado averaged 17 points and 6.5 assists per game and was named

Catholic High School Athletic Association The Catholic High School Athletic Association or CHSAA is a high school athletic association made up of Catholic high schools based in New York City, Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. It is the largest Catholic high school athletic league ...

(CHSAA) Player of the Year. As a senior, he recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals, the first

quadruple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: point (basketball), points, rebound (basketball), rebounds, assist (basketball), assist ...

in school history, in a December 22, 2016, win over

Xaverian High School Xaverian High School is an independent Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college preparatory program and grades 6-8 are middle school. History T ...

. In his senior season, Alvarado averaged 17.9 points per game and led Christ the King to the CHSAA intersectional quarterfinals. He was named TimesLedger Player of the Year. Alvarado was considered a four-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and a three-star recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

in the 2017 class. On September 15, 2016, he committed to play college basketball for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

over offers from

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

and

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

, among others. Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner had first seen Alvarado at the

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League The Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, also known as Nike EYBL, or simply EYBL, is a basketball circuit for teams of players aged 17 and under. The circuit was founded in 2010 and is composed of AAU travel teams. Both boys and girls play in the ...

College career

As a freshman, Alvarado started in all 25 of his games and averaged 12.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He became the fourth Georgia Tech freshman to average at least 12 points, 3.5 rebounds, and two assists per game. He suffered a season-ending left elbow fracture against

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

on February 11, 2018. Alvarado had an increased role in his sophomore season with the early departure of Josh Okogie. On February 20, 2019, Alvarado scored a career-high 29 points to go with six rebounds and five assists in a 73–65 win over

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. As a sophomore, Alvarado averaged 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, leading his team in scoring, assists and steals. Georgia Tech was banned from the postseason by the NCAA during his junior season due to several infractions. He missed seven games early in his junior season due to an ankle injury. On January 25, 2020, Alvarado scored a season-high 26 points and recorded eight rebounds and a school-record nine steals in a 64–58 victory over

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

. In his junior season, he averaged 14.4 points, four assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game and was named to the Third Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In his senior year, Alvarado and Moses Wright led Georgia Tech to its first ACC title since 1993, by defeating

Scottie Barnes Scott Wayne Barnes Jr. (born August 1, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles men's basketball, Flo ...

and

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in the championship game of the ACC tournament. At the end of the season, he was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Professional career

New Orleans Pelicans (2021–present)

Alvarado passed on gaining an additional year in college due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

game cancellations and declared himself eligible for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. The NBA draft returned to Brooklyn after 2020 NBA draft, the pre ...

. After being undrafted, on August 19, 2021, he signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the

. Under the terms of the deal, he split time with the Pelicans and their

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron. During a game against the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

on January 25, 2022, Alvarado was issued a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

after an in-game verbal altercation with Philadelphia center

Joel Embiid Joel Hans Embiid ( ; born 16 March 1994) is a Cameroonian and American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After one year of college basketball with the Kansas Jayhawks men's ...

. The incident received press coverage after Embiid praised Alvarado and paid the $2,000 league fine associated with it. On March 28, Alvarado's two-way deal was converted into a standard 4-year, $6.5 million contract. This signing made him eligible for post-season play. In 2022, Alvarado gained social media traction for highlight clips of him creating steals by sneaking up behind the opposing team's ball handler, which also led to his nickname "Grand Theft Alvarado". On December 4, 2022, Alvarado scored a career-high 38 points in a 121–106 win over the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. On February 17, 2023, he won the

Rising Stars Challenge The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball exhibition game held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend and is intended to showcase young and rising players in t ...

MVP award after hitting the game-winning shot. On February 28, the Pelicans announced that Alvarado had suffered a stress reaction in his right tibia and would be re-evaluated in three weeks. On March 22, the Pelicans announced that Alvarado would be sidelined for at least another two-to-three weeks, ending his season. On September 28, 2024, Alvarado signed a 2-year, $9 million contract extension.

National team career

Although a native of

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Alvarado represents

at the international level due to his Puerto Rican ancestry. Alvarado was recruited in 2022 by

Carlos Arroyo Carlos Alberto Arroyo Bermúdez (born July 30, 1979) is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association with the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, ...

, retired team captain and current general manager. He was part of the team that helped Puerto Rico qualify for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

after defeating both

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the semifinals and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

in the final of one of four

2024 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments The 2024 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournaments were basketball tournaments contested by 24 national teams, where the four top teams earned a place in the 2024 Summer Olympics basketball tournament. They took place from 2 to 7 July 2024 in Gr ...

. He was named

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

after he averaged 16.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.3 steals, and had a 29-point performance against Italy and 23 points against Lithuania. Alvarado plays mainly as a shooting guard for the national team.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

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, 61 , , 10 , , 21.5 , , .411 , , .336 , , .813 , , 2.3 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 56 , , 0 , , 18.4 , , .412 , , .377 , , .673 , , 2.3 , , 2.1 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 7.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 171 , , 11 , , 18.6 , , .420 , , .342 , , .735 , , 2.2 , , 2.7 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 7.5

Playoffs

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, 6 , , 0 , , 19.5 , , .485 , , .375 , , .769 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 4 , , 0 , , 15.4 , , .150 , , .071 , , , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 10 , , 0 , , 17.9 , , .358 , , .233 , , .769 , , 1.2 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 5.5

College

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, 25 , , 25 , , 35.0 , , .448 , , .370 , , .802 , , 3.7 , , 3.1 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 30 , , 34.2 , , .392 , , .286 , , .743 , , 3.9 , , 3.4 , , 1.8 , , .1 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 23 , , 33.5 , , .444 , , .336 , , .793 , , 3.4 , , 4.0 , , 2.2 , , .1 , , 14.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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Personal life

Alvarado is of Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage. He and his girlfriend have a daughter who was born in 2020.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarado, Jose Living people 1998 births 21st-century American sportsmen American sportspeople of Mexican descent American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Brooklyn Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players New Orleans Pelicans players Olympic basketball players for Puerto Rico Point guards Puerto Rican men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players

Early life

College career

Professional career

New Orleans Pelicans (2021–present)

National team career

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

College

Personal life

See also

References

External links