Patience pays off for one ex-Cat as six others plot their NBA futures
Kentucky basketball turns to Spanish to promote its connection to the NBA: Players who move on to the NBA, often after only one college season, are part of what UK calls La Familia.
But after Tyrese Maxey was the 21st player chosen in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday night, he suggested other Spanish words better fit his Kentucky-to-NBA path: lo primero es lo primero (roughly translated as first things first).
“While I was at Kentucky, I didn’t really focus on being at the league,” Maxey said according to a transcript posted by the NBA. “My thing at Kentucky was, you know, Coach Cal said he had a role for me to play there, and that’s what I did. I wanted to win games, and I wanted to try to win a national title. That was the only thing that was on my mind at the University of Kentucky is trying to help your team win a national title, do whatever it takes, do whatever Coach Cal needs you to do, and try to get better and work on your game, your overall game. No matter what you have to do at Kentucky, work on your overall game for the future. That’s what I did.”
Maxey said his attention turned to the NBA after the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of college basketball’s 2020 postseason.
“After the year was over, I sat down with (UK Coach John Calipari) and he said he thought I was ready,” Maxey said. “And we made that step.”
In addition to Maxey, two other Kentucky players were drafted: Immanuel Quickley with the 25th pick and Nick Richards with the 42nd pick.
Later Wednesday night, Calipari tweeted that three UK players who were not drafted had signed with NBA teams as free agents: Ashton Hagans with Minnesota, EJ Montgomery with Milwaukee and Nate Sestina with Brooklyn.
Kentucky did not have a lottery pick for the first time since 2009, but Maxey and Quickley became the 30th and 31st UK players who were first-round picks in the 11 seasons Calipari has been coach.
The seventh former ex-Cat in the draft, Kahlil Whitney, took players from Kentucky and Duke being picked relatively low as a discouraging sign.
“He knew it’d probably be a long night,” said Mike Irvin, who coached Whitney in AAU basketball. Whitney left the UK team at mid-season.
Three or four NBA teams have contacted Whitney about being a free agent, Irvin said.
Recent examples set by Kendrick Nunn and Fred VanVleet gave Whitney hope of realizing his dream of playing in the NBA, Irvin said. Nunn and VanVleet — both natives of the Chicago area as is Whitney — went undrafted: Nunn in 2018 and VanVleet in 2016. Nunn started every game and averaged 15.3 points for the Miami Heat team that reached the 2020 NBA Finals. VanVleet was a key contributor on the Toronto Raptors team that won the 2019 NBA championship.
“He still has his spirits high,” Irvin said of Whitney. “He’s definitely staying positive. He knows eventually it will work out.”
Maxey said he saw Devin Booker (13th pick in 2015) and Tyler Herro (13th in 2019) as role models.
“Definitely, I use that,” he said. “I think I always play with a chip on my shoulder just because that’s just how I am.”
Maxey also mentioned Jamal Murray along with CJ McCollum and Jrue Holidays as “hybrid guards” that he’s tried to emulate in terms of contributing in multiple ways.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Maxey. Coincidentally, he worked out at the same facility as Sixers guard Ben Simmons during the lead-up to the NBA Draft.
“He works out like right after I was working out,” Maxey said. “So it’s great to watch him and watch him get ready and work on his game. . . . I talked to him just a minute ago, and he just said be ready to get to work.”
Maxey said he also became acquainted with LeBron James, who also offered support.
“It’s been great having guys like LeBron and even Ben Simmons as older brothers and mentors,” he said. “For someone like me, a rookie coming into the league, it’s great to have those guys on your side.”
Maxey was one of several players who became emotional when interviewed by ESPN after being selected. He linked his tears to “all the hard work and all the sacrifice that my parents have made for me. . . . My siblings, uncle, my entire family had to sacrifice just so I could do certain things and try to chase my dreams. For them to come true and for me to get an opportunity to show how hard I work and how much I appreciate the game, it means a lot.”
Two online gambling sites made Maxey and Quickley long shots to be named NBA Rookie of the Year. BetOnLine.com put 33-1 odds on Maxey and 66-1 on Quickley who wound up with the New York Knicks after being drafted by Oklahoma City. SportsBetting.com set the odds at 45-1 (Maxey) and 75-1 (Quickley).
The odds on Richards, who was drafted by New Orleans and immediately traded to Charlotte, being Rookie of the Year were set at 100-1 (BetOnLine.com) and 125-1 (SportsBetting.com). The latter online site also listed odds of 125-1 on Hagans being Rookie of the Year.
Calipari advised Maxey to look forward, seek improvement and what could be thought of as defying those odds.
Maxey said the UK coach’s advice was to “show everybody that I can do multiple things, and even more things than I was able to show at Kentucky.”
