This week, the NBA announced the 28 players that will be participating in the Rising Stars Challenge over the All-Star weekend. Unlike past years, this year’s format will consist of a single-game tournament played by four teams. The four rosters are made up of 12 NBA rookies and 12 NBA sophomores, in addition to four players from the NBA G League Ignite. The Denver Nuggets have a couple players on their team that should have been considered for one of the roster spots. Unfortunately, neither Bones Hyland nor Zeke Nnaji made the cut.
After the announcement, Hyland took to social media to react to the news.
While not making the cut is undoubtedly a tough pill to swallow for Hyland, he is displaying the best attitude possible in response. Many athletes use snubs like this as a motivator in their future performances, and it seems as though Hyland will adopt this strategy as well. It also says a lot about his maturity level at this early stage of his career that he took the time to congratulate the players that made the cut over him, while at the same time acknowledging that the decision to exclude him from the weekend’s events will not reflect in the level of his confidence going forward.
While the NBA may not recognize Nnaji or Hyland yet as rising stars, Nuggets fans have gotten the opportunity to watch their growth and I think it’s safe to say they will definitely be turning heads in years to come.
