LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eighteen players hailing from the Kentucky men’s basketball program will play in the 2025 NBA Playoffs which tipoff Tuesday with the start of the SoFi NBA Play-In Tournament. That mark is the most of any program in the country.
The Wildcats are represented on 13 of the 20 playoff teams while five squads – the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Sacramento Kings – feature two UK products apiece.
Atlanta Hawks (1): Jacob Toppin
Dallas Mavericks (2): Anthony Davis, PJ Washington
Denver Nuggets (1): Jamal Murray
Golden State Warriors (1): Kevin Knox II
Houston Rockets (1): Reed Sheppard
Indiana Pacers (1): Isaiah Jackson
Los Angeles Lakers (1): Jarred Vanderbilt
Miami Heat (2): Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro
Milwaukee Bucks (1): Chris Livingston
Minnesota Timberwolves (2): Rob Dillingham, Julius Randle
New York Knicks (1): Karl-Anthony Towns
Oklahoma City Thunder (2): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace
Sacramento Kings (2): Trey Lyles, Malik Monk
MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander teams with Cason Wallace to lead the top seed in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Karl-Anthony Towns is primed for his first playoff run with the New York Knicks, the third seed in the East. The Thunder open play on Sunday, while the Knicks begin their quest for a championship on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET against the Detroit Pistons. The game is slated to air on ESPN.
The considerable playoff presence for the Wildcats comes as no surprise as Kentucky led the nation with 29 players on NBA opening day rosters this season. Four of those players, Gilgeous-Alexander, Towns, Anthony Davis and Tyler Herro, were selected to this year’s NBA All-Star game, which also paced all collegiate programs.
Kentucky will have alumni on five of the eight teams in the play-in tournament, which is set to begin on Tuesday night.
Adebayo and Herro will aim for a spot in the playoffs with a 7:30 p.m. ET tip on Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls. The Heat would then have to also win against either the Hawks, featuring Toppin, or Magic to advance. Lyles and Monk with the ninth-seeded Kings will take on Davis and Washington and the 10th-seeded Mavericks on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET. Both games will air on ESPN. The winner will advance to take on the Grizzlies or Knox’s Warriors for a spot in the playoffs.
Of the former Wildcats in action, Davis and Murray have both captured NBA Championships in their careers. In total, 16 Wildcats have claimed NBA Championships since 1951 when Paul Noel won with the Rochester Royals.
For the latest on Kentucky men’s basketball team follow @KentuckyMBB on X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
