Shaedon Sharpe has actually been playing (really good) basketball lately

Bitterness from Shaedon Sharpe‘s voluntary court absence during his time at Kentucky still lingers in a good chunk of Big Blue Nation’s soul. The more stubborn amongst us may never get over Sharpe’s perceived use of the program as nothing more than a launching point of his professional career.

When Sharpe exited the Las Vegas Summer League after just five minutes and 33 seconds of action due to a labral tear, it almost felt serendipitous. While no one wishes injuries on anyone, a not-so-small contingent of Kentucky fans wasn’t exactly pouring out a beer in his honor, either.

Now, however, Shaedon Sharpe has returned to action for the Portland Trailblazers and quietly put up a few big preseason games. After a slow start where he put up just two points and five points in his first two games, the 7th overall pick in the draft exploded for a game-high 27 points in just 23 minutes against Maccabi Ra’anana, an Israeli-based club, last Thursday.

Sure, Team Maccabi wasn’t exactly NBA competition, but Sharpe wrapped up the Blazers’ preseason on Tuesday night with another game-high, 17-point performance against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Sharpe played 38 minutes in his team’s 33-point loss, and it is clear the Portland coaching staff is trying to get him as much experience as they can before the regular season begins on October 19th.

Time heals all wounds, and personally, I’m excited to see Sharpe play this season. I can’t lie though, watching highlights like the one below of him pulling off a one-handed tomahawk alley-oop dunk pains me a bit knowing he should be doing that in Kentucky’s new uniforms this season. There’s no question Sharpe has tremendous talent, and now Kentucky fans can do nothing but watch and wonder, “What if…”