Monday Headlines: John Wall’s all-time starting 5 for Kentucky Basketball

Posted by Admin July 15, 2024 Basketball

The Kentucky Wildcats have had quite the pool of talent over the last 15 years. Now-former head coach John Calipari was quite the recruiter and never failed to have talent in Lexington.

John Wall was Calipari’s first big-time recruit at Kentucky and was immediately beloved by the Big Blue Nation. He brought excitement and a thrill to Kentucky basketball that had been missing for a while.

Wall went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft and played 11 seasons in the NBA.

He’s also kept in touch with the Kentucky basketball program and their fans during that span.

Recently, Wall gave his all-time starting five for UK and his list was rather interesting.

In addition to himself, he listed Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Of course, it’s not surprising that Wall would include himself in his all-time starting five. He did spark the Calipari era and was electric doing so, averaging over 16 points and six assists per game as a freshman.

If we were to put together a UK starting five from the Calipari era based on success while wearing the UK jersey, it should probably go: Wall, Jamaal Murray, Antonio Reeves, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Davis.

There are several names that could be interchanged on that list and that’s okay — it all speaks to the success fans got to enjoy during the Calipari era.

However, if we were to put together a UK starting five from the Calipari era based on success while in the NBA (which is what Wall’s list seems to be relative to), it should probably go Adebayo, Booker, Davis, Gilgeous-Alexander and Murray.

Four of the five have played in the NBA Finals, and two have a championship ring. They’ve all been recognized in multiple all-star games, and four of the five have also received All-NBA honors.

Do you have a different starting five in mind? Let us know in the comment section below.