NBA All-Star Weekend kicks into high gear Friday with the NBA Rising Stars Challenge at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 7 p.m. tipoff will be broadcast and live-streamed on TNT.
Lauri Markkanen, representing the Bulls along with Kris Dunn in All-Star Weekend activities, showed off a sweet pair of Nikes before the game Friday night.
Markkanen’s sneakers have a graffiti theme and are orange and black with yellow accents. The words “world” and “rising star” are also written on the top of his toes.
Check the shoes out for yourself:
Markkanen has been a bright spot for the Bulls during their rebuild. He’s in the running for rookie of the year, although odds are he’ll get beaten out by Ben Simmons or Donovan Mitchell.
Markkanen has a 32-to-1 chance of receiving enough votes to edge out the competition for the prestigious honor as compared to Simmons, who has 5-to-4 odds and Mitchell, who is 5-to-3, according to MyTopSportsbooks.com. He entered the All-Star break fourth in rookie scoring, averaging 15.3 points, and second in rebounding (7.7) and in three-pointers made per game (2.2).
