Reed Sheppard models his game after Chris Paul, Steph Curry

Reed Sheppard is not afraid to take inspiration from others. During an interview with NBA insider Shams Charania, Sheppard revealed which NBA players he models his game after.

“Chris Paul is one of those guys,” Sheppard said. “I look at him because of how he can control the game, how he can get his teammates involved, how he comes off pick and rolls and he’s never sped up. He’s just gonna play his style, his pace.

“You look at guys like Devin Booker and how they get to their mid-range game. He’s really good at getting to a spot and just elevating over you and knocking down a shot. Then, you look at Steph Curry. How he moves without the ball. He’ll throw the ball and he’ll run a ridiculous amount just to get an open 3 and catch it real quick and get his feet down and shoot it.”

At 6-foot-2, Sheppard stands at a similar height to both Curry and Paul. The standout guard certainly showed flashes of both of the NBA greats during his lone season at Kentucky.

Sheppard averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 steals and a team-high 4.5 assists per game during the 2023-24 season. Further, the Bluegrass native shot 53.6% from the floor and 51.1% from downtown, the most accurate single-season 3-point percentage in program history.

While Sheppard wowed NBA scouts with his perimeter skills, he also showed off his will to win. In Kentucky’s 91-89 win over Mississippi State, Sheppard erupted for a career-high 32 points and drained a gutsy game-winning floater.

Sheppard claims that side of his game comes from watching Kobe Bryant.

“You look at someone like Kobe — just his mentality,” Sheppard said. “No one was going to stop him. No one was going to beat him. He was better than everyone. He thought that no matter what you did, he was going to be able to do it better. He was going to win. You weren’t gonna beat him.

“So just taking things from different players and just watching their game and learning — that’s just a couple. You can watch everyone in the league and take something from their game that they’re really good at and try to put it into your game.”

Soon, Reed Sheppard will inspire the next generation of players. The 2024 NBA Draft will be held on June 26-27. For the first time this year, the draft will expand to a two-night format. The first round will be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., while the second round will take place at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York.