A rising NBA star and former first-round draft choose stunned the basketball world this weekend by asserting his retirement to pursue a calling by God into ministry.
“I gave up basketball to observe Jesus,” mentioned AJ Griffin, a 6-foot-6 ahead for the Houston Rockets who performed his first two seasons in Atlanta. The 21-year-old made the announcement in a web based video.
“I do know that in lots of people’s eyes, that looks like a loss,” Griffin added. “However I simply wish to allow you to guys know that I am tremendous excited. … Letting go of basketball is permitting me to enter full-time ministry and really serving the Lord with all my coronary heart — with all my time, too.”
Griffin was the sixteenth total choose by the Atlanta Hawks in 2022 after taking part in one season at Duke, the place he earned ACC All-Freshman honors whereas averaging 10 factors per recreation. In highschool, he was a five-star recruit and a member of the McDonald’s All-American group.
He averaged 8.9 factors per recreation throughout his rookie season for the Hawks however noticed a diminished position throughout his second season whereas battling an ankle damage. He was traded to Houston through the offseason. His authentic contract with the Hawks was value $17 million.
He grew to become a Christian in 2020, he mentioned within the video.
“It was the very best choice of my life. It really was. And I believe my values began to vary. My coronary heart began to vary,” he mentioned.
God revealed to him, he mentioned, that “we’re all made to glorify God, we’re all made with a objective.”
“I simply love spreading the Good Information of the Gospel as a result of I understand how a lot it is modified my life,” he mentioned. “I simply wish to proceed to maintain sharing the goodness of the gospel to as many individuals as I can. Now I will have my full devotion to the Lord, and I wish to attain folks extra by means of my platforms.”
Griffin mentioned he sensed God main him out of basketball.
“You would have all of the riches on the planet, . However the one factor that really issues, it is a relationship with Jesus,” he mentioned. “… Jesus — He is the one one that would fulfill you. He is the one one which may give you objective. And I really feel just like the Lord was calling me to let go of basketball, to really simply serve Him extra.”
WATCH: Why I Determined to give up Basketball… #nba | A.J. Griffin
Picture Credit score: ©Fb/NBA Up Close
Michael Foust has coated the intersection of religion and information for 20 years. His tales have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Immediately, The Christian Publish, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville Information-Sentinel.
