ESPN news: The names of All-NBA honors for three Wildcats
Eight players from Kentucky have been named to the All-NBA team 17 times since 2015.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Davis, and Devin Booker, three Kentucky men’s basketball products, were named to the All-NBA teams on Wednesday night in honor of their exceptional accomplishments during the 2023–24 NBA season.
Booker selected a member of the Third Team, Davis was named to the Second Team, and Gilgeous-Alexander was unanimously selected to the First Team.
Eight Kentucky players have been named to the All-NBA team 17 times since 2015. Both the total number of picks and the number of individual players lead all other programs throughout that time frame.
Kentucky’s three 2023–24 All-NBA selections are previous winners. For the second time in their professional careers, Gilgeous-Alexander and Booker were honored, and Davis was chosen for an incredible fifth season—the most for a former Kentucky men’s basketball player. This season, all three players were selected as NBA All-Stars.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the 2023–24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, and Nikola Jokic were the only two unanimous First Team honorees this season. For the second year in a row, he is a member of the All-NBA First Team. In 2024, he was chosen for his second NBA All-Star game and received his first career start in the game’s main event. With an average of 30.1 points per game, Gilgeous-Alexander concluded the regular season as the third-leading scorer in the league. The product of Hamilton, Ontario, led the league in 30-point performances for the second consecutive season with a league-best 51.
With 2.0 thefts per game, the lanky lead guard tied for the league lead in steals and was a nightmare on defense.
In addition, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game for the young Oklahoma City Thunder, who took home the top seed in the difficult Western Conference. OKC’s overall record of 57-25 is the team’s highest number of victories since they won 59 games in 2013–14. Averaging 27.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder over New Orleans in their first series. It was the team’s first postseason series victory since 2016.
Davis, who is currently in his 12th NBA season, had a fantastic 2023–24 campaign as the center for the Los Angeles Lakers averaged 24.7 points on 55.6% shooting. With 12.6 rebounds per game, he was third in the league; he also finished fourth in terms of total blocks (178) and blocks per game (2.3). Yesterday, Davis was also selected to the NBA All-Defense Second Team.
In the course of his incredible NBA career, Davis has won nine NBA All-Star selections, four All-NBA First Team selections (in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2020), an NBA Championship in 2020, and the MVP award for the 2017 NBA All-Star Game.
Booker of the Third Team completes the group of All-NBA recipients from the United Kingdom. The standout guard for the Phoenix Suns averaged 27.1 points, a career-high 6.9 assists per game, and 4.5 rebounds in the 2023–24 regular season. Booker led the Suns to a 49-33 record and the sixth seed in the Western Conference. His scoring average was tied with teammate Kevin Durant for the fifth-highest in the NBA this season. In his nine years as an NBA player, it was Booker’s second-highest point total per game in a single season.
In the Phoenix’s four postseason games, the Grand Rapids, Michigan native kept up his explosive scoring pace, averaging 27.5 points in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Booker joins his first team selection in 2022 with the All-NBA Third Team honor this year. In addition, he has been selected to the NBA All-Rookie First Team four times and was a part of that team in 2016.
Former Kentucky men’s basketball players Tyrese Maxey, De’Aaron Fox, and Bam Adebayo were also voted All-NBA.
Alumni of Kentucky men’s basketball continue to have a significant influence on the NBA landscape. With 26 former student-athletes on NBA opening day rosters in 2023–24, UK topped the nation for a record 12 seasons running. The nation also had the most representation in the NBA Playoffs, with 22 of them. The Wildcats created history at the 2024 NBA All-Star game when a record-breaking seven players were selected as All-Stars.
The Wildcats have already had success in the 2023–24 NBA award season. Apart from the players selected for the All-NBA team today, Adebayo and Davis were also selected for the NBA All-Defensive Teams, Karl-Anthony Towns was given the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion Award, Maxey was named the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award winner as well as the KIA NBA Most Improved Player, and Cason Wallace was selected for the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
