Jacob Toppin made his NBA debut on Tuesday night

Jacob Toppin can officially say he’s played in an NBA game.

The former Kentucky Wildcat made his NBA debut on Tuesday night for the New York Knicks. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, and came near the very end of a 146-122 blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks during the quarterfinals of the league’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. Toppin was on the floor for the final 2:29 of the game, finishing with one block on the stat sheet.

Regardless, it was a cool moment to see him finally take the floor, and will hopefully be the first of many more to come.

Even cooler? Toppin was able to hug one of his former Kentucky teammates in the closing seconds. Bucks’ rookie Chris Livingston also played the final 2:29 of the game, adding two rebounds, one steal, and one turnover. Toppin and Livingston played the 2022-23 season together as starters in Lexington before heading off to the 2023 NBA Draft. Toppin went undrafted but was scooped up by the Knicks while the Bucks selected Livingston with the very last pick (No. 58).

Jacob Toppin made his NBA debut last night during the Knicks' In-Season Tournament loss to the Bucks.

Toppin only played 2 minutes near the end of the game, but there was a cool moment where he hugged former Kentucky teammate Chris Livingston (Bucks) in the final seconds. pic.twitter.com/7kWRXdzFOT

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) December 6, 2023

With the loss, Toppin and the Knicks have been eliminated from the In-Season Tournament. Livingston and the Bucks advance to the semifinals where they’ll face the Indiana Pacers on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. This game marked the third NBA appearance for Livingston, although he’s yet to play more than six minutes in any of them.

After making his NBA debut, Toppin quickly turned around to suit up for the Knicks’ G League franchise, the Westchester Knicks (8-3), on Wednesday morning. The 6-foot-9 forward dropped 13 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 6-12 shooting in 24 minutes during a 121-109 win over Raptors 905. Toppin has appeared in 10 G League games so far, averaging 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 33.6 minutes per game.

BBNBA Early-Season Rookie Report

Toppin and Livingston aren’t the only former Kentucky players who have played in an NBA game this season as rookies.

Cason Wallace has been playing at a high level for the Oklahoma City Thunder — which drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick — early in the season. Through 19 games for OKC (including four starts), Wallace is averaging 7.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 21.9 minutes per game. He’s shooting the ball incredibly well, too: 59.8 percent from the field, an NBA-high 52.5 percent from beyond the arc (on 2.7 attempts per game), and 84.6 percent from the free throw line. The 6-foot-4 guard has filled in mostly at shooting guard this season, playing behind All-Star point guard and fellow one-time Wildcat, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

That just leaves Oscar Tshiebwe as the lone Kentucky rookie not to see the floor so far this season. Expect that to change at some point though. The big man has been dominating the G League for the Indiana Pacers’ affiliate (18.9 PPG, 17.9 RPG, 61.9 FG%), enough so that he was called up to the Pacers last week. Tshiebwe has only been able to watch from the bench thus far, but as the season toils along, don’t be shocked if there’s a situation where his talents are needed in a pinch.