Today on KSR: Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns are NBA All-Stars
Rise and shine, Big Blue Nation! It’s Friday, and we have yet another day of jam-packed coverage for you to close out this week.
Let’s get this thing started.
Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns are All-Stars
After the starters were announced last week, the 2019 NBA All-Star reserves were made public yesterday evening, with two former Wildcats making the cut.
Following his snub for a spot in the starting lineup last week, we all knew New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis would be selected for the sixth time in his career. For Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns, however, he was right on the fringe during the All-Star voting process and his second career selection was up in the air.
Davis was quickly announced as a reserve.
Anthony Davis has been named an @NBA All Star for the 6th time! #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/jLrMMt1sNb
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 1, 2019
Followed by Towns…
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😼 pic.twitter.com/qaWvy4v69T— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 1, 2019
We actually got some pretty incredible footage of Towns finding out he is an NBA All-Star, breaking down to tears with his mother and father giving him hugs and support.
Check it out:
the moment @KarlTowns found out 🙌
🎥: @ChuckyAnthony pic.twitter.com/RJVromvipJ
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 1, 2019
Towns, who was treating his Minnesota teammates and the Minnesota Lynx players to a screening of the new movie ‘What Men Want’ (Towns has acting credits), talked about his selection to the audience:
“It’s always about playing for your teammates…playing to put the respect to that team… the front of the jersey, not the back.”@KarlTowns reacts to finding out about his All-Star appearance while treating Wolves & Lynx staff to a movie 👏 pic.twitter.com/WB6euGssuj
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 1, 2019
Congratulations to both on the honor!
Blockbuster NBA trade…. and it wasn’t AD
Speaking of Davis, after days of dominating the news cycle with trade rumors and speculation, we finally had our first blockbuster trade involving a disgruntled player prior to next Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.
… this one just didn’t include The Brow like many thought it would be.
The New York Knicks traded star forward Kristaps Porzingis, along with Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., Wes Matthews, DeAndre Jordan, and two future first-round picks.
Sources: Full players involved in Knicks/Mavericks deal:
Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, Trey Burke to Dallas.
Dennis Smith Jr., Wes Matthews, DeAndre Jordan and likely first-round draft pick compensation to New York.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
This one does impact Davis’ future home, however, as the Knicks were expected to be one of the teams heavily interested in making a deal for the 6-foot-11 former Kentucky star. At one point, the trade package of Porzingis, the team’s potential No. 1 overall draft pick (likely Duke’s Zion Williamson), and former Wildcat Kevin Knox was being tossed around, which would have been fairly tough to beat. The end goal? Piecing together a big three of Davis, Kevin Durant (free agent) and Kyrie Irving (free agent).
With Porzingis headed to Dallas, New York simply doesn’t have strong enough assets for another blockbuster deal, likely leaving just Los Angeles and Boston as the two primary landing spots for Davis.
UK Hoops falls to South Carolina
Despite a combined 49 point-effort from Kentucky stars Maci Morris, Rhyne Howard, and Taylor Murray, the UK Hoops squad was unable to pull off the home upset over No. 16 South Carolina, falling by a score of 70-74.
Following a 55-percent shooting outburst, the Cats actually led 20-17 after the first quarter, but the offense fizzled out from there, finishing with only eight points in the second quarter to give up the lead.
By the end of the third quarter, Kentucky’s efforts on defense just weren’t there, with a score spreading to 44-55 in favor of the Gamecocks. The Cats managed to cut the lead to nine on several instances in the fourth, even pushing it all the way down to three at one point, but couldn’t execute down the stretch to pull off the major victory in Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky (17-5) will take on Florida at Rupp Arena on Sunday afternoon, with the game being televised on ESPNU at 2:00 p.m.
Lonnie Johnson could be a first-rounder
After an impressive outing at the Reese’s Senior Bowl last week, former Kentucky cornerback Lonnie Johnson is starting to draw first-round NFL Draft praise.
Jim Nagy, the executive director of the Senior Bowl and an 18-year NFL scout, said he would be “surprised” if Johnson wasn’t in the first-round conversation of the draft by the time April rolls around.
He even went as far comparing the former Wildcat to another former Mark Stoops defensive back, Minnesota Viking corner Xavier Rhodes.
Just finished up South tape and I’ll be surprised if @Lonnie30johnson isn’t in the first-round conversation by April. Prototype tools. Xavier Rhodes-ish. Physically, one of the best-looking corners I’ve seen in a long time. Movement skills belie his size. Good luck, Lonnie! https://t.co/7scgZcvcQe
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) January 31, 2019
In an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio, Johnson himself said he’s expecting to be drafted in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
“I pretty much know I’m going to go in the first round at this point, based off what I did down there and showed football talent-wise,” Johnson said. “I’ve been hearing a lot of first round talk. But it’s still talk until somebody pulls the trigger in the first round. Then I’ll believe it.”
Check out the entire interview/article below.
http://kentuckysportsradio.com/football-2/lonnie-johnson-first-round-nfl-draft-senior-bowl/
Anthony Edwards cuts list to four, includes Kentucky
The No. 1 prospect in the class of 2019 cut his final list to four on Thursday afternoon, with Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida State rounding out the finalists.
After his visit to Kentucky last week, Edwards sat down with 247 Sports to talk about how the trip went.
“It was great,” Edwards told Evan Daniels of 247 Sports. “It was a great atmosphere, the game and the fans at the game kept saying ‘We want Ant.’ Coach Cal is a great dude. Kenny Payne is a great dude and I’m really close with Ashton [Hagans] and Tyler Herro.”
Ashton Hagans and Tyler Herro? The same two individuals that spurned their hometown schools to commit to a blueblood program? Interesting.
Edwards said he will be making his college decision sometime in the next month or so, and the Wildcats have a legitimate shot.
John Calipari talks to the media
Before they take off for Gainesville this evening, Kentucky head coach John Calipari will be speaking to the media this afternoon at roughly 2:00 p.m. to break down the Gators, followed by select UK players at 2:15 p.m.
KSR will have a live stream of the media opportunity this afternoon, followed by quotes and analysts to prepare you for Kentucky’s big matchup at Florida tomorrow afternoon.
You won’t want to miss it.
KSR is LIVE from The Ketch
Head on out to The Ketch Seafood Grill (2012 Regency Rd, Lexington, KY 40503) this morning to see Matt, Ryan, Shannon, and the KSR crew’s LIVE broadcast of the radio show.
As always, they’ll be there from 10 a.m. to noon to break down all of the latest shenanigans in the world of UK Athletics.
KSR Radio is LIVE tomorrow at The Ketch from 10-Noon…come see us
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) February 1, 2019
We’ll see you there.
Go Cats.
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