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Fresh from his successful stint on Rising Stars, Jackson-Davis is prepared to take on any role with the Warriors.

SACRAMENTO – On the third and final day of NBA All-Star Weekend, Warriors center Trayce Jackson-Davis finally found himself awed by his surroundings on his home court.

Jackson-Davis was part of Chris Mullin’s Rising Stars team that won Friday night’s revamped tournament to place themselves in Sunday night’s All-Star Game against Shaq’s OGs. That squad was loaded with current superstars and future Hall of Famers. LeBron James sat out the event as a physical precaution, but the rest of the group still was a list of the best of the best.

Steph Curry. Kevin Durant. Kyrie Irving. Damian Lillard. James Harden. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. That’s seven players, with the majority already having punched their ticket to Springfield, and the others being on a clear path to an orange jacket. Even still, Jackson-Davis says sharing the court against his Warriors teammate in Curry was what he will remember most above all.

As the biggest names in the game strolled into Chase Center on Sunday and commissioner Adam Silver addressed the players, Jackson-Davis allowed himself to have his pinch-me moment.

“Just seeing everyone there, kind of being starstruck, just seeing all the guys – I thought that was a really cool experience,” Jackson-Davis told NBC Sports Bay Area after Warriors shootaround on Friday at Golden 1 Center.

Following a successful first season with the Warriors where he missed being named All-Rookie by one vote, Jackson-Davis’ introduction to Year 2 began by playing against perhaps the best selection of American players since the Dream Team in 1992. Jackson-Davis, as well as Warriors teammate and draft classmate Brandin Podziemski, were on the USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that practiced and scrimmaged against Team USA during training in Las Vegas to prepare them for the Paris Summer Olympics.

Those few days at UNLV in the grueling heat were exactly what Jackson-Davis needed, gaining a mental edge over his competition. There’s no greater confidence boost, especially knowing that Warriors coach Steve Kerr wanted him to go through the experience.

“It just shows that you belong,” Jackson-Davis said. “I just got to continue to grind, continue to work hard and I know if I do that I’ll reap the fruits of my labor.”

After two months of coming off the bench or being a DNP (Did Not Play), Jackson-Davis earned his first start as a rookie in the Warriors’ final game of the 2023 calendar year, scoring 17 points against the Dallas Mavericks. He started the next game, too, but wasn’t entrenched in the starting lineup until the Warriors’ final 11 games of the regular season.

The Warriors brought back veteran Kevon Looney in the offseason, but didn’t shore up the center position. The keys were handed to Jackson-Davis, or so it seemed.

To begin his second year as a pro, Jackson-Davis started the Warriors’ first 17 games, in which Golden State went 12-5. From Dec. 21 through Jan. 20, Jackson-Davis was the Warriors’ starting center for 16 straight games, a month stretch in which the team went 7-9. Now with the recent arrival of 7-foot Quinten Post, a rookie who the Warriors took in the second round of last year’s draft and began the season on a two-way contract, Jackson-Davis’ role has been in flux.

In the last month, the Warriors have played 13 games. Jackson-Davis has started only three of those while also being a DNP five times, including the last two games before the All-Star break.

“I know that opportunity is going to come around again,” Jackson-Davis says. “Just always staying ready and always being ready to go.”

A stay-ready mindset is one every professional prides themselves with. But comparing his mental strength from being a rookie to everything Jackson-Davis has experienced since, the difference is palpable to him one day before his 25th birthday.

“I think this year, I’m a lot more mature,” Jackson-Davis believes. “I felt like last year there were certain times where I really didn’t understand what was going on, especially being from college and starting every game, playing the majority of minutes. Now that I’ve gone through that for a year, it’s a little different.

“I’m really just doing what’s best for the team and whatever coach needs me to do.”

The last two seasons, that has meant protecting the rim, running the floor, being a lob threat, setting strong screens and being able to pass from the block. All that’s missing is what Post has added to the roster.

While Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green owned one basket during Friday’s shootaround, the rest of the Warriors shot on the other side. Standing behind the 3-point line from the left corner were the Warriors’ three traditional centers – Post, Looney and Jackson-Davis. Post has only played 17 games in the NBA, yet he already has taken 63 threes, making 25 of them for a 39.7-percent clip. Looney in his 10-year career has attempted 62 threes, and Jackson-Davis has shot two, missing one each in his two professional seasons.

Adding a new element to a player’s game four months into the season would be an impossible ask. This coming offseason, however, Jackson-Davis expects to get a whole lot more familiar with the 3-point line.

“That’s definitely something that I want to implement into my game,” Jackson-Davis says. “I feel like it will open a lot of things up. Being able to shoot it just to keep the defense honest, and getting to pump fakes and driving and stuff of that nature is something I really want to implement for next year.

“That’s something that I will be working on this summer.”

There have been a handful of surprise contributors to the Warriors this season. Post is one of them. So is Gui Santos, Pat Spencer and others as well.

Assistant coach Anthony Vereen has been vital in Jackson-Davis remaining positive through some admitted tougher times, reminding him how everything comes full circle and providing words of encouragement the last month or two.

Matchups might lean in his favor. Injuries can happen at any moment. Sports aren’t scripted. They’re a challenge of mental warfare, battling to be prepared on a whim’s notice.

A day before hitting the quarter-century mark, and only hours before the Warriors start their sprint to the finish line, Jackson-Davis now understands that more than ever.

“Sometimes it may not be you, but at the end of the day with coach, he’s going to call your name when you least expect it,” Jackson-Davis says. “So, you just always have to be ready for those scenarios.”

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