A lot of the highest NBA expertise during the last quarter of a century joined the league by the use of John Calipari-led school basketball applications, together with the 2025 MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Kentucky product and Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder standout turned the second participant to win the league’s prime particular person honor on the heels of a school profession below Calipari’s tutelage, becoming a member of former Memphis star Derrick Rose, who was named the league’s MVP in 2011.
Calipari stated Gilgeous-Alexander and Rose had lots in widespread, significantly with regard to their intangible traits. Whereas they performed at completely different faculties and in several eras of faculty athletics, a standard thread related them.
“I’ve coached two MVPs: Derrick Rose and Shai. Each had the identical DNA. Unbelievable teammates,” Calipari stated on “The Pat McAfee Present.” “Shai will not do an interview except his teammates are round. Derrick would not take an image except his teammates had been round. You will by no means hear a participant that performed with them ever say a nasty phrase as a result of they’re nice teammates. They had been each wired and pushed; one by making an attempt to show himself, ‘I am higher than you suppose,’ the opposite making an attempt to reside as much as what he was.”
Regardless of his standing as one other prized, five-star recruit in Calipari’s lengthy line of blue-chip freshmen, Gilgeous-Alexander spent a lot of his lone season at Kentucky as a bench contributor. He ultimately climbed into the beginning lineup and performed his finest basketball down the stretch till the Wildcats misplaced within the 2018 Candy 16.
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Rose had a extra prolific school season and earned All-American honors when he guided Memphis to the 2008 Closing 4. His Tigers crew fell to Kansas in additional time in an all-time basic nationwide championship recreation.
“Totally different gamers,” Calipari stated. “Derrick was velocity would kill you, his fast bounce and floaters. Shai extra of a tempo recreation that simply goes and will get buckets however performs an excellent ground recreation, too. But it surely’s wonderful — Shai didn’t begin for me for eight video games, 9 video games. And once I known as him in and stated, ‘It is advisable be beginning,’ he stated, ‘I am good, Coach. I belief you.’ Simply tells you about what he’s.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s recruiting background and surge in the direction of the tip of his freshman season made him a premier draft prospect, and the Los Angeles Clippers chosen him at No. 11 total months after his solely season at Kentucky got here to an finish. The Clippers traded him to the Thunder the next offseason, and he has been on a steep upward trajectory ever since.
The 2024-25 season made Gilgeous-Alexander one of the crucial productive and dependable scorers in NBA historical past. He received the league’s regular-season scoring title and notched at the least 20 factors in 72 consecutive video games, setting a brand new NBA file. His MVP honor got here throughout the Thunder’s postseason run to the finals, whereby they maintain a 3-2 collection lead over the Indiana Pacers coming into Thursday’s Sport 6.