Rumors

Duane Rankin: University of Kentucky forward Jaxson Robinson hasn't had many NBA pre-draft workouts. Season-ending wrist injury that required surgery. Had two visits so far: Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. Robinson said he has 4 more with one being with the Phoenix Suns. #Suns pic.x.com/hV7mcb7XvM

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It's safe to say Gilgeous-Alexander had quite a come-up in high school, but it was deeper than simply eventually earning a spot at the University of Kentucky. This week, he described a lesson he learned in high school, one that came to be a defining characteristic in his life. The power of calm. "I used to be a kid that got mad and threw the ball around the court over a pickup game," he said. "My coaches taught me the older you get, the less you get away with things like that." "To be the guy I want to be, I can't behave like that because it will translate to the rest of my team. That lesson always stuck with me. I still have [that fire], I still feel it. I just understand not to let it show, and it kind of weaponized it for myself. Showing [your emotion] gives your opponent a weapon as well."

ESPN

Yahoo Sports: Former NBA All-Star Rajon Rondo graduated from the University of Kentucky today with a BA in Communication 🎓 Rondo starred for the Wildcats from 2004-06.

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There were clues that supported Wechsler's intuition. Pelinka and Johnson had taken Johnson's private jet to scout Ball when he played against De'Aaron Fox and the University of Kentucky, sources told ESPN. The Lakers' brass had also seen Ball for two workouts -- one at the team's facility and another in his hometown in nearby Chino Hills -- which was the maximum allowed. And all of their workouts with other top prospects were with guards, not forwards, sources said. They worked out Fox, Markelle Fultz, Dennis Smith Jr. and Josh Jackson (considered a swingman who could play the 2 or the 3). They didn't work out Lauri Markkanen or Jonathan Isaac, another Wechsler client.

ESPN

Of course, if every second-generation player was selected No. 1 overall (like, say, Andrew Wiggins, whose father, Mitchell, played six seasons in the league), we’d expect them to outperform their non-legacy peers. But even once we account for draft slot, the second-gen draftees shine above the rest, outperforming the expected value at their draft slot by a whopping 30%. The legacy draftees, based on where they were drafted, were on average expected to generate 1.65 annual win shares in their NBA careers, the equivalent caliber of the 16th pick. Instead, they yielded 2.15, a 30% bump, which was more indicative of a No. 10 pick. Said another way, players with NBA bloodlines have performed six slots better than their actual draft spot. How impressive is that? Consider this: a 30% edge for legacy picks was larger than any college program in the study that sent at least 25 draftees to the league — even higher than the University of Kentucky (+26 percent).

Yahoo! Sports

Mary Schmitt Boyer/Jodie Valade: Sources tell cleveland.com that Chris Livingston – an Akron native who entered the draft after playing one season at the University of Kentucky – is scheduled to work out for the Cavs next week. More here: l.cleveland.com/ewOTmG Photo: AP pic.twitter.com/Cl0w0OH77U

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Nobody knew nearly a decade ago just how much fruit the tree would eventually yield. Not Jokić, who said in an interview during the tournament that he didn’t envision playing in the NBA. Not Murray, who was yet to start his lone college basketball season at the University of Kentucky. Not the coaches who would soon be tasked with trying to crack the code created by one of the best partnerships in the sport. “We talk the (same) language on the court playing,” Murray said. “We just read the game and play off each other. It’s hard to explain. There’s no selfishness.”

The Athletic

Davis said he received an MRI on the foot Dec. 22 and the Lakers shared the imaging with five doctors and foot specialists to determine a recovery plan. One option available to him would be to undergo a procedure to remove the bone spur. One doctor surmised that the bone spur was present in his foot since his college days at the University of Kentucky more than a decade ago, it just hadn't caused him any problems. "I don't like surgery," Davis said. "I feel like, if it can be avoided, then let's avoid it."

ESPN

The year of Devin Booker continues, as the Phoenix Suns superstar guard signed an endorsement contract extension with Nike that will carry through 2029 and continue to feature him as a major face of the brand, the company announced Thursday. After first signing with Nike prior to being drafted by Phoenix in 2015 and extending again in 2018, Booker’s newest extension will ensure no less than a 15-year tenure with the Swoosh through 2029. The 25-year-old University of Kentucky phenom and Nike will also work together on creative lifestyle collaborations outside of traditional basketball activations.

boardroom.tv

All-Star forward Khris Middleton and center Brook Lopez appeared Friday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live: NBA Finals Game Night," one of ABC's pregame shows ahead of Game 4 between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. Middleton played in a game of "College Knowledge," where he was asked to answer trivia questions alongside fellow Texas A&M attendee Deandre Jordan. The pair faced off against former University of Kentucky players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Malik Monk.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Adrian Wojnarowski: University of Kentucky freshman guard TyTy Washington Jr., – a projected lottery pick – will enter the 2022 NBA Draft and hire an agent, he tells ESPN: es.pn/3jcGcII

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Davis, who played the 2011-12 season at the University of Kentucky before being drafted No. 1 overall by New Orleans, has long kept an eye on Monk, who played for Kentucky in the 2016-17 season before he was chosen 11th overall by Charlotte in the 2017 NBA draft. Watching Monk up close has reinforced Davis’ positive opinion of him. “Instant scorer,” Davis said, “and we still don’t know how we got him for what we got him for. He can play. He’s a hell of a player. Shot a lot of big shots, made a lot of big shots, and this is going to continue to build his confidence in what we do.”

Los Angeles Times

A jury in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday returned not guilty verdicts on the 11 counts former NBA player Randolph Morris faced for wire fraud and willfully making false statements on his tax returns. The case centered on Morris, a former New York Knick and Atlanta Hawk who earned $13.3 million in salary and bonuses by playing for the Beijing Ducks between 2010 and 2017, neither reporting his Chinese income nor paying U.S. taxes on that income. The former University of Kentucky star, if convicted, could have faced a maximum possible prison sentence that exceeded 80 years.

Sportico

“I know what I want to do with this game and ultimately, very few do,” Shai tells me. “I knew that if I got an opportunity, that I’d work hard enough and take advantage of it.” He thinks about his time before blowing up with the University of Kentucky’s legendary hoops program: how, as a high schooler from Canada sharing a bedroom with Nickeil in their coach’s home in Tennessee, he didn’t make the McDonald’s All-American Game. How he only had one offer from lowly Binghamton University, and how, upon signing with Kentucky, he became the team’s lowest-rated recruit. There’s a big gap from there to here: getting picked 11th by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018, and now signing a max contract—five years, $172 million —extension with OKC this summer. “Ever since then, I never looked back. I want to be one of the best point guards to ever play,” he says. “I’m not playing this game just to be a good basketball player. I want to be one of the greatest to ever play.”

GQ.com