Kentavious Caldwell-Pope motivated by Rising Stars Challenge

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the Rising Stars Challenge, via Aaron McMann of MLive:

"“In the summer I put in a lot of work,” he said. “I just used (the game) as motivation to work hard and come back better than I was last year.”"

That hard work paid off. After missing the game last year, Caldwell-Pope made it this year.

Caldwell-Pope deserves credit for making himself a better player, using whatever motivational technique necessary. He had no reason to be ashamed of getting passed over last year, but whatever he needed to push himself through a long offseason of training.