Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Nets guard/forward Bojan Bogdanovic has been selected to play in the 2016 BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge during NBA All-Star 2016, the league announced today.
Bogdanovic, 26, will be making his second consecutive appearance in the game after participating as a rookie last season. He is averaging 9.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 27.0 minutes per game across 46 appearances (17 starts) with Brooklyn this season. Last season, Bogdanovic posted averages of 9.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 23.8 minutes per game in 78 games (28 starts) en route to All-Rookie Second Team honors. Among all NBA sophomores, Bogdanovic is 9th in minutes per game and 12th in points per game, while he ranks 2nd in minutes per game and 3rd in points per game among international sophomores. He has also made 60 3-pointers this season, marking the 3rd most for any NBA sophomore. Bogdanovic was originally selected with the 31st pick (second round) in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat before his rights were traded by Miami to Minnesota and then by the Timberwolves to the Nets. He spent three more seasons abroad (2011-14) before starting his NBA career last season.
Bogdanovic will be just the fourth Nets’ player to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge as both a rookie and sophomore, joining Mason Plumlee (2014 and 2015), Brook Lopez (2009 and 2010) and Kenyon Martin (2001 and 2002).
For the second consecutive year, the league’s annual showcase of premier young talent will pit 10 first- and second-year NBA players from the United States against 10 first- and second-year NBA players from around the world. The game, set for Friday, Feb. 12 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, will be televised live by TNT at 9 p.m. ET, part of Turner Sports’ 31st year of All-Star coverage.
ALL-TIME NETS PARTICIPANTS:
* Only Nets to appear as both a rookie and a sophomore.