ROOKIE AJ GRIFFIN SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN 2023 JORDAN RISING STARS GAME

Atlanta Hawks rookie guard AJ Griffin has been selected as a 2023 Jordan Rising Star, the NBA announced today. The annual showcase of young talent, featuring a mini-tournament with four teams and three games, will be played on Friday, Feb. 17 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City as part of NBA All-Star 2023 and will be televised on TNT at 9 p.m. ET. Griffin was selected by NBA assistant coaches.

Griffin joins De’Andre Hunter (2021, game not played) Trae Young (2019, 2020) and John Collins (2018, 2019) as one of four current Atlanta players to have been selected as a Rising Star while a member of the Hawks. Teammates Bogdan Bogdanovic (2018, 2019), Frank Kaminsky (2017) and Clint Capela (2016) have also all been named Rising Stars, with Bogdanovic being named MVP of the 2018 Rising Stars.

The first-year Hawk, who made his NBA debut on Oct. 23 against the Charlotte Hornets at 19 years and 59 days old, became the third-youngest player to appear in a game for the club in franchise history. He tallied eight points on 3-4 shooting, including a 2-3 clip from deep and two steals in six minutes of action, becoming the first Hawks rookie since John Collins to record at least two thefts in an NBA debut.

Gasol (Team Pau), Noah (Team Joakim) and Williams (Team Deron) will select their teams through the NBA Rising Stars Draft, which will be held at a later date.  Terry (Team Jason), a current Jazz assistant coach and a former head coach of the NBA G League’s Grand Rapids Gold, will coach the team of NBA G League players.

All three games in Jordan Rising Stars will be played to a Final Target Score, meaning that each game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out.  The semifinal games will be played to a Final Target Score of 40.  The final game will be played to a Final Target Score of 25.

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