Bam Adebayo joins Anthony Davis in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game

Its official. Former Kentucky Wildcats star Bam Adebayo will be an NBA All-Star for the first time in just his third season in the league. The All-Star game is scheduled for February 16^th in Chicago at 8 pm.

Adebayo will also be joining former Cat and current Lakers star Anthony Davis in the game. Davis was voted in as a starter for the event. The head coaches picked the reserves that included Bam.

This has been a breakout season for Adebayo who is currently averaging a double-double for the 32-15 Heat. He is putting up 16 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks a night while shooting 58.9%.

Back in December, Adebayo recorded his first career triple-double and now has three of them on the year.

This just continues to add to the success that John Calipari has had at putting guys in the league and then them going on to succeed at that level.

UK Athletics breaks down the numbers.

“In the 10-plus seasons of the Calipari era, 38 players have been selected in the NBA Draft, more than any other school. Included in the recent run are 29 first-round picks, three No. 1 overall selections (Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns and John Wall) and 21 lottery selections. A staggering 29 players from Kentucky were on NBA opening-day rosters (including two-way and inactive lists), the most of any school”

But they are able to flourish in the league.

“His players have garnered 22 All-Star selections with the latest picks. Derrick Rose (from Memphis) was named league MVP in 2011. Five of his players have been tabbed All-NBA (Rose, Wall, Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and Towns), three have been named NBA Rookie of the Year (Rose, Tyreke Evans and Towns), and 12 players from Calipari’s first nine teams at Kentucky have made the NBA All-Rookie teams”

I think it is safe to say that no one is better at getting players ready for the NBA than John Calipari is.

Participants for the NBA Rising Stars Game, Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the MTN DEW 3-Point Contest and the AT&T Slam Dunk Contest haven’t been officially announced yet, but I would bet on seeing more Kentucky guys be in some of those events.