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Kentucky set a new NBA mark for most All-Star selections from a single school in a single year for this year’s All-Star Game with seven, breaking its own mark of four shared with UCLA.
Anthony Davis played in his ninth All-Star game on Sunday while Devin Booker (4), Karl-Anthony Towns (4), Bam Adebayo (3), Julius Randle (3), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Tyrese Maxey (1) all also made the game even though Randle could not play because of an injury.
However, a strong case could be made that UK should have had one more player — Sacramento guard De’Aaron Fox — in the game.
At the All-Star break, he was averaging 26.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while playing 35.6 minutes per game. He was also shooting 47 percent overall and 33 percent from 3. He was averaging 30 points per game at one time this season.
Fox credited Kentucky coach John Calipari for his success in an interview with the Arizona Republic.
“He teaches you how to work like a pro,” Fox, a first-time All-Star last season, said. “You have a defined role when you get into college, you get into the league, you develop a little bit more and you show more things that you have, but Cal shows that once you’re in the NBA, unless you’re a superstar, you have to have a role and you want to be a star in your role.”
Fox is having his best season since being the fifth overall pick in the 2017 draft. He already had scored 9,258 points at the All-Star break. He also had 1,641 career rebounds along with 2,716 assists and 605 steals.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Fox said about not making the All-Star Game. “I get to go on an All-Star break and actually have a break. I saw it last year. As an All-Star, you don’t really get a break. I’m not pressed about it at all.”
