Nation-Leading 15 Wildcats Set for NBA Playoffs
LEXINGTON, Ky. – A season after setting the NBA record for most points in a single playoff, the Kentucky men’s basketball program will be represented by 15 players in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. The Playoffs begin Saturday.
The 15 players in the 2021 playoffs are more than any other college program. The Wildcats had more players on NBA opening-day rosters than any other school as well.
Of the 16 teams comprising the playoff field, nine feature former UK players. Three teams have multiple Wildcats, led by the New York Knicks with four (Kevin Knox, Nerlens Noel, Immanuel Quickley and Julius Randle).
- Dallas Mavericks (1) – Willie Cauley-Stein
- Denver Nuggets (1) – Jamal Murray*
- Los Angeles Clippers (3) – DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Rajon Rondo
- Los Angeles Lakers (1) – Anthony Davis
- Miami Heat (2) – Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro
- New York Knicks (4) – Kevin Knox, Nerlens Noel, Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle
- Philadelphia 76ers (1) – Tyrese Maxey
- Phoenix Suns (1) – Devin Booker
- Portland Trail Blazers (1) – Enes Kanter
*Out of the playoffs due to a season-ending injury
Of the 15 Wildcats on NBA playoff rosters, UK head coach John Calipari has coached 14 of them. Derrick Rose, a Calipari player at Memphis, is also a vital member of the Knicks. It’s worth mentioning that Jamal Murray helped the Nuggets to the playoffs and was one of the breakout stars during the 2020 run, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in April.
The playoffs begin Saturday with four games. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro and the Miami Heat open against Milwaukee at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
Adebayo and Herro became stars a season ago as they helped lead the Heat to the NBA Finals. Adebayo is having another banner season and is firmly in the race for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. He is scoring a career-high 18.7 points per game and contributing 9.0 rebounds per game and 5.4 assists. Adebayo is also posting 1.0 blocks per game and 1.2 steals. Earlier this season, he became the youngest player in franchise history to score 3,000 points and snare 2,000 career rebounds.
Herro has been plagued with nagging injuries throughout the season but is scoring 15.1 points per game and shooting 43.9% from the floor. He’s also contributing 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game.
The second matchup of the day features three players from the Los Angeles Clippers in DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson and Rajon Rondo against Willie Cauley-Stein and the Dallas Mavericks. That game is set to tip at 4:30 p.m. and will also air on ESPN.
Enes Kanter and the Trail Blazers take on Murray’s Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Season highlights for the Wildcats include the Knicks making their first appearance in the NBA Playoffs since 2013 thanks in large part to its four UK players. Randle was a first-time All-Star in 2021 and is having the best season of his career. He is averaging 24.1 points per game, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game while connecting on a career-high 160 3-pointers after combing for 168 over the first six seasons of his career. Randle is one of three finalists for the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Randle was tabbed the Eastern Conference Player of the Month following a dominating April that pushed the Knicks in the upper half of the conference standings.
Noel has enjoyed a resurgence in his first season with the Knicks. He’s the only player in the league to average at least two blocks (2.2) and one steal (1.1) per game. He’s second in the league with 2.2 blocks per game to lead one of the best defensive units in the NBA. Quickley has dazzled with his efficient scoring from long range and difference-making floater game. In contention for an All-Rookie Team spot, he’s logging 11.4 points per game which includes a career-high 31 in January.
Booker was the Western Conference’s Player of the Month in February and has joined forces with Chris Paul to form one of the league’s most dynamic backcourts. He is scoring 25.6 points per game and making 48.4% of his field-goal attempts. One of the most feared offensive threats in the game, Booker has eclipsed 30 points in 22 times this season and has failed to reach double-figures in just one game all season. He made his second consecutive NBA All-Star Game this season.
Davis is one of the centerpieces for the defending World Champions Lakers. He suffered through a midseason Achilles injury and missed most of February and all of March. An eight-time All-Star selection, including in 2021, Davis is posting 21.8 points and 7.9rebounds per game. He scored 36 vs. Portland on May 7 and followed it up with a season-high 42 points against the Suns on May 9 proving that when he’s healthy he remains one of the best players in the league.
Nine different UK players eclipsed 40 or more points in at least one game this season – far and away more than any other university alumni can claim – including Adebayo, Booker, Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Murray, Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns and PJ Washington.
When the 2020-21 season began, a staggering 31 players were on NBA opening-day rosters (including two-way and inactive lists) played and finished their college basketball careers at Kentucky. Underscoring the fact that no other school in the country can match UK’s ability to develop players and put them in the NBA, UK’s 31 players were once again the most of any college basketball program, beating the next-closest school (Duke with 26) by five players.
Of the 495 players in the NBA to start the 2020-21 season, 6.3% played and finished their college basketball careers at UK. There were actually fewer teams without a Wildcat (12) than there were NBA teams featuring Wildcats (18) to start the season.
Kentucky has enjoyed unprecedented success at putting players in the NBA under Calipari. In the 11 previous seasons of the Calipari era, 41 players have been selected in the NBA Draft, more than any other school. Included in the recent run are 31 first-round picks, three No. 1 overall selections (Anthony Davis [2012] Towns and Wall) and 21 lottery selections.
Calipari’s players have entered the league NBA-ready. His players have garnered 23 All-Star selections, with Davis winning the game’s MVP honor in 2017. Rose was named NBA MVP in 2011. Five of his players have been tabbed All-NBA, three have been named NBA Rookie of the Year, and 14 players from Calipari’s first 10 teams at Kentucky have made the NBA All-Rookie teams.
Using figures compiled by basketball-reference.com and spotrac.com, Calipari-coached players only (which includes Rose but not Rondo) have amassed nearly $3 billion ($2.96) in career NBA contracts. In the 11 seasons Calipari has been the head coach at Kentucky, his players have totaled nearly $2.6 billion in NBA contracts.
In just the 2020-21 season alone, former UK players are slated to make more than $295 million. Calipari-coached players only (which includes Rose but not Rondo) will make just about the same thing.
Calipari and Kentucky have had multiple players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft in 11 straight seasons, the only program since the draft went to two rounds in 1989 to accomplish such a feat. No other school or coach in the country has had a first-round pick in each of the last 11 seasons. Calipari is the only coach in the history of the sport to have four players drafted No. 1 overall (Rose – 2008, Wall – 2010, Davis – 2012, Towns – 2015).
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
