Multiple former Wildcats expect to be in MVP conversation for 2023-24 NBA season

Kentucky players run the National Basketball Association — this much we know. The Wildcats currently have 26 one-time players, according to Spotrac, on an NBA roster ahead of the upcoming 2023-24 season. Duke is the next highest with 25 players, but without the same level of star power spread across the 30 franchises that Kentucky has.

The next-closest team to Kentucky and Duke is UCLA with just 14 former players.

But in spite of the program’s domination since John Calipari’s arrival at UK in 2009, no Wildcat has ever been named Most Valuable Player in the league’s nearly 80-year history. Could that change this season? There will certainly be a handful of potential candidates.

Notably, there is a trio of former Wildcats that will start the season with MVP aspirations: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. The folks over at ESPN believe all three will be among the top 10 MVP contenders.

With the 2023-24 season still a few months away, ESPN is beginning to churn out some NBA content. This week, the worldwide leader has tasked their Summer Forecast panel (a group of basketball experts) to answer some questions about what’s to come. On Tuesday, the panel’s favorites for all six major NBA awards were unveiled.

When it comes to predicting the league’s ’23-24 MVP, Booker was the highest-voted Kentucky player, receiving seven total points, or 3.8 percent of the vote, good enough to be tied for seventh. Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander and Davis both tied for 10th place after receiving one point a piece. Nikola Jokic (42.3 percent of votes), Giannis Antetokounmpo (23.1 percent), and Luka Doncic (11.5 percent) made up the top three vote-getters.

Considering Booker will team up next to Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, it could be tough for him to put up numbers good enough to warrant an MVP vote by the end of the season. The same could be said for Davis, who plays next to LeBron James, but Davis will be the focal point for the Lakers on both ends of the floor this season. SGA might actually have the best chance of the three, as he’s clearly the franchise star and is coming off a season that saw him average a career-best 31.4 points per game.

MVP isn’t the only award that will see former Kentucky players battling it out though. When it comes to Defensive Player of the Year, Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo received the second-most votes from the panel (15.4 percent), finishing behind only Jaren Jackson Jr., who won the award in 2022-23 for the Memphis Grizzlies. Davis is also a potential candidate for DPOY after he received 7.7 percent of the overall votes.

Additionally, the Sixth Man of the Year award is another where former Kentucky players stand out. Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro won the award in 2021-22 before New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley finished in second place in 2022-23. Both are expected to contend for 6MPOY once again in ’23-24.

Herro, who actually started all 67 games he played in last season for Miami, holds the fourth-most points (21) with Quickley right behind him (18). Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk is also expected to fight for the award, as he received 18 points and is tied with Quickley for fifth-most.

The 2023-24 NBA season doesn’t start until late October, but it’s never too early to hype up some former ‘Cats.