Kentucky Basketball Stars Take Over NBA Playoffs With Lakers, Nuggets, Heat

As the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, and Boston Celtics compete for a championship in the NBA’s bubble, it’s Kentucky basketball that is taking center stage.

Former members of the UK basketball team are taking over games on a nightly basis in the conference finals. Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray, Bam Adebayo, and Rajon Rondo have each had signature postseason moments with potentially more to come.

Tyler Herro is the latest former Wildcat to shine in a playoff game. The rookie scored 37 points in the Miami’s Game 4 victory over Boston in the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night, putting the team one victory away from reaching the 2020 NBA Finals. Herro joined Magic Johnson as the only players to score at least 37 points in a playoff game at 20 years old or younger.

Adebayo added 20 points and 12 rebounds in the victory. The Kentucky product is averaging 17.8 points per game this postseason. Adebayo’s 11.5 rebounds per game are the most among any player still competing in the bubble.

“Think about it,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari told OutKick’s Jason King last week. “The guys that are becoming the face of the NBA … they’re our guys. I’m not surprised. The kids that come here are just built different.”

With at least one ex-Wildcat on each of the final four rosters, it's also a certainty that one of them will be Calipari's first Kentucky player to win an NBA title.

Murray has been the breakout star of the bubble playoffs, going from 18.5 points per game in 59 regular-season contests to averaging 26.6 points in 17 postseason games. Denver’s point guard has helped the Nuggets come back from a pair of 3-1 series deficits with four games of 40 points or more.

Murray had 28 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in Denver’s Game 3 win over Los Angeles. The 23-year-old nailed a few big shots down the stretch to hold off the Lakers and keep the Nuggets in the series.

Davis led the Lakers to wins over the Nuggets in Game 1 and Game 2 of the Western Conference finals. After posting 37 points and 10 rebounds in the series opener, he scored 31 points and made the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in Game 2.

It’s been no surprise that Davis is having this much success in the playoffs. The Lakers became instant title contenders when Los Angeles traded for the former No. 1 overall draft pick and paired him with LeBron James. Davis is a seven-time All-Star and became a 2020 First-Team All-NBA selection.

Rondo entered the league six years before Davis, and his contributions to Los Angeles’ run weren’t expected by much of the basketball world. The veteran has been an important playmaker and defender this postseason, living up to his “Playoff Rondo” moniker.

Enes Kanter is another Wildcat still in the playoffs, though his impact has been minimal. Kanter has played 17 minutes total for Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Kanter never played a game for Kentucky because the NCAA ruled him ineligible as a freshman. Murray, Adebayo and Herro all declared for the NBA draft after one season. Davis only spent a year at Kentucky, leading the team to a national championship.

Rondo had the longest college basketball career of the group, spending two years in Lexington.