Former NBA First-Round Pick Gives Up Basketball 'To Follow Jesus'

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A.J. Griffin was drafted 16th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, but he's already decided to leave the game of basketball behind to become a minister.

The 21-year-old was waived by the Houston Rockets on September 20 after being dealt by the Hawks and reportedly received a contract buyout of $250,000, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Griffin, the son of former NBA player and coach Adrian Griffin, was drafted in the first round after one season at Duke and averaged nine points per game while proving to be a formidable shooter from three-point land during his rookie campaign. This past season he played in just 20 games for Atlanta before being traded to Houston this summer and struggled during Summer League with his new team before announcing that he'd be stepping away from basketball.

He recently explained the reasoning behind his break from the sport and announced that he's given up basketball "to follow Jesus" and is working to become a minister.

"I gave up basketball to follow Jesus," Griffin explained. "And I know that in a lot of people's eyes, that seems like - it seems like a loss in the world's eyes. But, I just want to let you guys know that I'm super excited because I truly get to serve God, you know, with my full Yes, and I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to, you know, go into full-time ministry and truly serving the Lord with all my heart -- with all my time too, as well. So, I'm just excited to see where that leads me."

"I just want to go through the steps of how I came to this realization that I want to let go of basketball and follow God. This really has to start off with me giving my life to Christ in 2020. I truly accepted him back then, He found me. I know we say we find God, but He finds us," he continued.

Griffin played in a total of 92 games in two seasons in the NBA while averaging just over seven points per game and 1.9 rebounds.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.