Vicky Graff Photo
Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was not an immediate starter when he came to Kentucky but he’s now a NBA superstar and was one of the league’s top scorers last season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder guard was in Toronto Thursday night to watch Team USA/Kentucky play host Canada and even had some playful verbal exchanges with Kentucky coach John Calipari during the game.
During an in-game interview on SportsNet, Gilgeous-Alexander, 24, credited his year playing for UK and Calipari for changing his career and developing him into a lottery pick in the draft.
“You have to fight for everything you want to get, especially with so much talent around you. You learn that from day one. It’s so competitive in that gym. And you really get better every day,” the NBA all-star guard said. “And I found myself getting better every day in that gym, and I got to my ultimate goal.”
Another former UK star, Jamal Murray, is also from Canada and just helped the Denver Nuggets win their first NBA championship. Calipari also noted to Canadian media members Thursday night that former Cats Trey Lyles and Michael Mulder also had NBA careers (Lyles, a first-round pick in 2015, just signed a new contract.
“Do you want me to keep going?” Calipari said. “Then you ask me this question: ‘How do you not get every Canadian that can play?’ I don’t know! I have no idea. Why they wouldn’t call us to say, ‘Every kid that’s come to you is in the league or fighting or…’ So tell me why. I don’t know.”
Calipari said often Canadian players were more unselfish on the court when they get to college. He explained how Lyles, a McDonald’s All-American, accepted a smaller role on UK’s 38-1 team despite being a high-profile recruit. He still became a lottery pick.
Murray teamed well in the backcourt with current UK graduate assistant coach Tyler Ulis and was not the volume shooter he is with the Nuggets. Mulder was a little-used reserve but still has played in almost 100 NBA games.
“They don’t seem to be spoiled by all the stuff,” Calipari said about the Canadian players. “The list. The draft list. The five-star. The four-star. … Doesn’t mean anything. But, here, it truly doesn’t mean anything. And so those guys seem to come in, and they weren’t spoiled at all.”
Calipari has also recruited Canadian rapper/songwriter Drake to become a UK fan and took his players to Drake’s home to visit and practice Friday before UK plays Africa Saturday.
Calipari certainly tried to endear himself to Canadians even more with his praise of Toronto.
“I just love the city. Great restaurants. Love walking the streets. Friendly people. Diverse. I just love this city. This is one of my favorite cities in the world to go to. It is,” the UK coach said.
“And I’ve been — I haven’t been to Australia — but just about everywhere else in this world, I’ve been to most of their cities, and this is a clean, safe — I love this city. And I love coming up here to recruit.”
