4 Former Kentucky Wildcats are Finalists for NBA Awards

The NBA doles out seven annual awards for outstanding play in the regular season. Each award has three finalists and four former Kentucky Wildcats are candidates for the prestigious honors.

OKC Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has two nominations. He’s being considered for Clutch Player of the Year and NBA MVP. The other two MVP candidates are Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic, who is trying to win his third MVP Award in the last four years. A former Wildcat has never won an NBA MVP.

SGA was one of three players in the NBA who averaged more than 30 points per game, finishing with a career-best 30.1 ppg. He also tied with De’Aaron Fox for the most steals in the league, averaging 2.0 per game. Gilgeous-Alexander dished out 6.2 assists and grabbed 5.5 rebounds per game to help the Thunder clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Tyrese Maxey might just be the frontrunner for the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Even though he missed a dozen games due to injury, the 23-year-old former Kentucky Wildcat became a star during Joel Embiid’s prolonged absence. He averaged a career-high 25.9 points per game with shooting splits of .450/.373/.868.

Bam Adebayo is once again a finalist for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, alongside Rudy Gobert and the sensational rookie Victor Wembanyama. Adebayo has four Top Five finishes in voting for Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-9 center is a versatile defender who finished just outside of the top ten in the NBA in rebounding (10.4 per game). His Miami Heat fell to top-seeded Boston in the opening game of the NBA Playoffs.

Last year Malik Monk finished fifth in voting for the Sixth Man of the Year. He was even better coming off the bench for the Sacramento Kings this season. Monk averaged a career-high 15.4 points and 5.1 assists per game. The Bucks’ Bobby Portis Jr. and the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid are the other candidates for Sixth Man of the Year.