BBNBA Cup: Three former Wildcats will suit up in NBA Cup Championship

The third-ever NBA Cup concludes Tuesday night with the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs duking it out in Las Vegas — and we’ve got three former Kentucky Wildcats hoping to win the trophy and take home the cash prize (over $500,000 per player for the winning team).

For the Knicks, we have Karl-Anthony Towns, who helped lead New York past the Orlando Magic, 132-120, in the semifinals over the weekend. Towns went for 29 points and eight rebounds on 9-11 shooting in 37 minutes of action. Tonight’s championship game won’t count toward the standings (or in the stat book), but the Knicks enter with an 18-7 record, good enough for second in the Eastern Conference. Towns hasn’t been the shooting the ball at the level he usually does, but the seven-footer is still posting All-Star numbers.

He’s in for a challenge tonight, going up against the Spurs and freak-of-nature Victor Wembanyama, who dropped 22 points and nine rebounds in San Antonio’s 111-109 upset win over the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the other NBA Cup semifinal. The loss dropped OKC to 24-2 on the season. We might not get too many individual Wemby vs. KAT matchups, but those two will be must-see TV whenever they’re matched up on each other. Spurs center/Lexington native Luke Kornet will likely see some possessions on Towns.

Elsewhere, this writer’s eyes will be locked on a pair of former ‘Cats suiting up for the Spurs. De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson are both playing terrific basketball for San Antonio (also holding an 18-7 record) so far this season. Fox is averaging 23.9 points and 6.2 assists per outing as the starting point guard. Johnson has seen his role change compared to recent seasons, but he’s embraced it well off the bench: 12.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. If you haven’t heard, Johnson wants to win the NBA Cup so he can use the winnings to buy a llama for his ranch.

The Knicks haven’t won anything of note since securing the NBA championship all the way back in 1973. Winning the in-season tournament would be something to celebrate as they look to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row — and hopefully the NBA Finals. Meanwhile, Wemby and San Antonio are looking to announce themselves to the rest of the league as a legitimate title threat this season.

Tipoff tonight in Vegas is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video. New York is a 2.5-point favorite, per BetMGM. This is going to be some fun basketball.