Rockets K.J. Martin And Jabari Smith Jr. To Compete In NBA All-Star Saturday Night Events

HOUSTON — Thursday night, the NBA announced participants for State Farm All-Star Saturday Night events held on Feb. 18 during All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City.

Houston Rockets' third-year forward K.J. Martin will compete in the AT&T Slam Dunk contest, while rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. was selected for the Kia Skills Challenge.

Martin will be the sixth player in franchise history to participate in an NBA dunk contest. He joins Ralph Sampson (1984), Kenny Smith (1993), Steve Francis (2000, 2002), Chase Budinger (2012) and Jalen Green (2022).

Francis, who won Rookie of the Year honors, was runner-up to Vince Carter in 2000. Budinger finished second to Jeremy Evans in 2012.

Martin is averaging a career-best 11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

During the Skills Challenge, Smith will be part of Team Rooks, alongside draftmates Paolo Banchero and Jaden Ivey. Only two players in franchise history previously participated in the Skills Challenge. Jeremy Lin competed in 2013, while Patrick Beverley won the event in 2015.

Smith has started all 54 games as a rookie, averaging 11.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He will also participate in the Jordan Rising Stars event on Friday, Feb. 17, along with teammates Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun.

Green and Sengun will make their second straight appearance in the Rookie vs. Sophomore showcase. The Rockets are the only team with three representatives in this year’s game after having a league-high tying three participants in 2022.

You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24

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