NEW YORK – Three former Kentucky men’s basketball players were awarded with NBA end-of-season honors this week. Devin Booker hauled in All-NBA First Team accolades, while Karl-Anthony Towns was an All-NBA Third Team selection and Bam Adebayo claimed second team All-Defensive Team.
The honor is the first of Booker’s career. Towns earned his second third-team honor after also being selected in 2018. Adebayo was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for a third consecutive season.
Voting for the NBA awards was conducted by a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.
With Booker and Towns’ inclusion on the All-NBA Teams on Tuesday, at least one former UK player has made one of the All-NBA teams in seven of the last eight seasons. Kentucky players have also made the NBA All-Defensive Team in seven of the last eight seasons.
Kentucky has earned 11 combined All-NBA selections since 2015 from six John Calipari-coached players (Booker, Towns, Julius Randle, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall). Including Derrick Rose at Memphis, Calipari has coached seven All-NBA players in his college career.
Devin Booker
Booker helped lead the Phoenix Suns to the NBA’s best regular season record with a with a 64-18 mark. Booker averaged a career-best 26.8 points per game and shot at a 46.6% rate during the regular season.
In his seventh season, Booker scored in double figures in every game this season and topped the 30-point plateau a staggering 28 times, including three times during the playoffs. He was named the Western Conference’s Player of the Week three times during the season and was tabbed to his third NBA All-Star Game.
Booker was the Southeastern Conference Sixth Man of the Year during UK’s magical 2014-15 season. He averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, while also sinking 58 3-pointers. He won four straight SEC Freshman of the Week honors and earned a league-high five overall awards. He was drafted 13th overall by the Suns in 2015.
Karl-Anthony Towns
Towns pushed the Minnesota Timberwolves back into the playoffs for the first time since 2018. He led the squad in scoring (24.6), rebounding (9.8) and blocks per game (1.1). He registered his second career triple-double on Jan. 30 with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a win over the Utah Jazz.
He was named the Western Conference’s Player of the Week twice during the season en route to appearing in his third-career NBA All-Star Game. He also captured the 2022 3-Point Shooting Contest during NBA All-Star Weekend.
After being drafted No. 1 overall in 2015, Towns was tabbed the NBA Rookie of the Year. He became the first player in Kentucky’s storied history to win the award.
Towns joined Booker as one of the centerpieces of the historic 2014-15 team that flirted with a perfect season. He was an NCAA Consensus Second Team All-American and SEC Freshman of the Year. Towns averaged 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He was a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection and registered the most 15-plus point games with eight that season.
Bam Adebayo
Adebayo has been a centerpiece for the Miami Heat. The Heat are making an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons and will play again on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Adebayo was more than just a defensive stopper for the Heat. In his fifth season in the NBA, Adebayo, averaged 19.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. He led the Heat in blocks (44), offensive rebounds (137), defensive rebounds (427) and total rebounds (564) while finishing second in steals (80).
Adebayo was a key part of the 2017 Elite Eight and SEC championship team at Kentucky. In his lone season at UK, he averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 rebounds with eight double-doubles.
Adebayo was tabbed to the All-SEC Second Team by both the media and the league’s coaches. He was also an All-SEC Freshman Team selection and a member of the SEC All-Tournament Team after helping lead UK to the crown. He was selected 14th overall by the Heat in 2017.
A staggering 27 players from Kentucky were on 2021-22 NBA opening-day rosters (including two-way and inactive lists), the most of any school. The number grew to 32 players throughout the regular-season as several players earned roster spots and 10-day contracts throughout the year.
Kentucky has enjoyed unprecedented success at putting players in the NBA under Calipari. In the 12-plus seasons of the Calipari era, 43 players have been selected in the NBA Draft, more than any other school. Included in the recent run are 32 first-round picks, three No. 1 overall selections (Davis, Towns and Wall) and 21 lottery selections. A staggering 27 players from Kentucky were on 2021-22 NBA opening-day rosters (including two-way and inactive lists), the most of any school.
Calipari’s players are not only reaching the next level, but they are also succeeding when they do. Since 2010, eight Calipari-coached players have garnered 28 All-Star selections. Rose (from Memphis) was named league MVP in 2011. Five of his players have been tabbed All-NBA (Rose, Wall, Davis, Cousins and Towns), three have been named NBA Rookie of the Year (Rose, Tyreke Evans and Towns), Randle was tabbed the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2021 and 15 players from Calipari’s first 12 teams at Kentucky have made the NBA All-Rookie teams.
Using figures compiled by basketball-reference.comand spotrac.com, Calipari-coached players only (which includes Rose but not Rajon Rondo) have amassed nearly $3.4 billion in career NBA contracts. In the 12 seasons Calipari has been the head coach at Kentucky, his players have totaled nearly $3 billion in NBA contracts.
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).
Of the 70 players who have finished their college careers at Kentucky under Calipari (through the 2020-21 season), 43 were selected in the NBA Draft, a 61.4% success rate. Another eight of those made the NBA, and the majority of the rest were walk-ons.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s basketball team, follow @KentuckyMBB on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.