History Of The Milwaukee Bucks In The Rising Stars Challenge

Ray Allen

Year(s): 1997

Back before the game pitted rookies vs sophomores, Ray Allen was a reserve on the 1997 rookie East team. Somehow Kerry Kittles started over Allen, although that may have been the right decision based on the young Buck’s performance.

Allen posted just eight points on one-for-six field goal shooting, with six of his points coming from the charity stripe. In addition to his scoring, Allen also added two rebounds, two assists and a steal to the East team.

Allen’s East team managed to beat Kobe Bryant and the Western Conference rookies, in what was a stacked class of guards. The East had Ray Allen and Allen Iverson, while the West had Kobe and Steve Nash, plus Derek Fisher.

Ray-Ray probably would’ve dominated the game in his next season were it open to sophomores back then, as his scoring total bumped up from 13.4 points per game in his rookie season to 19.5 points per game in his second year with the Bucks.