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If you’re a diehard fan of Kentucky Basketball, pop the bottles now, because we’ll be seeing at least one former Kentucky player hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy this season.
Unless the Toronto Raptors, who are currently down 1-0 to the Milwaukee Bucks, win the Finals, John Calipari will have his first former player to win an NBA title.
Calipari, although providing the NBA with elite talent, has not seen his players win a championship. Considering how Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins have all seen All-Star and All-NBA appearances, it’s insane to think that neither of them have given the widely-acclaimed head coach an NBA title.
That said, the four teams remaining are the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers.
DeMarcus Cousins, who may not return from a partially torn quad till the NBA Finals (assuming Golden State advance), is, by far, the most popular Wildcat left. He’s the one representing UK in the Bay.
For the Blazers, you’ll have to throw it back to the 2010-2011 season to see their Wildcat. It is none other than Enes Kanter, but Kanter never suited up for UK after being ruled ineligible. Even not counting Kanter, the Blazers also have Skal Labissiere, who has played under three minutes in the Western Conference Finals.
Heading over to the East, the Bucks are led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the man bringing the ball up the court is former Wildcat Eric Bledsoe. Averaging over 15 points per game this postseason, Bledsoe’s been a solid piece of an outstanding Milwaukee team after playing for coach Cal during the 2009-2010 NCAA season.
Lastly, the Toronto Raptors have the only non-Calipari-coached Wildcat remaining. Jodie Meeks, who played at UK the season prior to Calipari’s arrival, averaged 23.7 points per game during his junior season at UK, making himself a household name in the Bluegrass State.
However, now 31, Meeks doesn’t see much court time. He’s yet to play a minute in the Eastern Conference Finals and has averaged under six minutes in his team’s playoff run, not seeing a single second in three games.
Nonetheless, Meeks helped solidify the fact that a UK player will be bringing home a title.