It was announced this morning that Memphis Grizzlies second-year player Jaren Jackson Jr., along with rookies Ja Morant and Brandon Clarke have been named to the NBA Rising Stars Game. The game is a part of the NBA All Star Weekend in Chicago, February 14-16. The format for the game is USA vs. The World- matching a combination of first and second year players against each other.



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Outside of Morant and Jackson Jr., the USA Team includes NBA All-Star Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans and Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat. Jaren Jackson Jr. also participated in the game as a rookie.

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Brandon Clarke will be playing on the World Team and will he joined by All-Star Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks along with Deandre Ayton of the Phoenix Suns, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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The trio of Ja Morant, Jackson Jr., and Brandon Clarke have become one of the most exciting young cores in the NBA with the Grizzlies’ fast paced offense. Jackson is averaging 17.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. Morant is averaging 17.5 points and 7.2 assists per game. Brandon Clarke is averaging 12.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Ja Morant also recently turned down an invitation to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest and Jaren Jackson Jr., who is shooting 40.5 percent on 124 made three-pointers is yet to be invited to the Three-Point Contest. Jackson has said that the he would love to participate if invited.

The Rising Stars Game will be held on Friday, February 14th at 9pm Eastern Time on TNT