Karl Anthony-Towns and Devin Booker were a part of a stacked Kentucky team in college that saw six members of its roster drafted to the NBA in 2015. While Karl-Anthony Towns was the star from the beginning in college and widely slated to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft that year, Devin Booker had a different story.
Devin Booker was not on the same trajectory as Towns; he was not a starter on the college team and personally believed his draft stock value was not as high as it ended up being.
But Towns had to convince him that if they both lock in and contribute to a winning team, all their stocks in the draft would rise together. Towns had to reaffirm to Booker that he was capable of being drafted in 2015.
During the Summer League this season, Karl-Anthony Towns sat down for an interview with Carmelo Anthony for his ‘7 PM in Brooklyn’ podcast. During the interview, Towns recalled his friendship with Booker in college.
“You know, it’s crazy. We’ve been friends since high school, and we have been talking about Kentucky since high school. So, kind of having that whole experience being with him in college.”
“I remember Book was in college and we would used to be sitting there and Book would be like, ‘Man, you about to go to the NBA, you going to get drafted number one and I’m gonna be here in Kentucky for another year or two and I’m going to just try’ and I was like, bro, like if we handle business on the court, we win and stuff, all our draft stocks go up.”
“It makes no sense to stay if we handle business the way we’re supposed to. Fast forward, takes the advice, joins the draft, goes to the Suns, the rest is history.”
“He never started. We did the platoon system. I don’t know if anyone even remembers that. That was, it’s crazy to say, 10 years ago. I don’t remember that. But like the team, we were off a platoon system.”
“So it was like I only played 17 minutes a game. Book played like 14. And then the rest of our bench, we used to be, hey, you college basketball couldn’t f**k with us. So the deep bench was even playing. So they were getting by like eight minutes a game.”
“And we were just playing, but he never got that chance to show what he could do. But we were winning. And when you win in college, everyone’s value goes up.”
Booker ended up becoming the 13th pick in the NBA Draft after a semi-final exit in the NCAA tournament. From being underconfident about whether he would make it to the league to becoming the face of the Phoenix Suns franchise, Booker certainly took Towns’ advice and wrote his name in Kentucky’s history books.
In 2015, Kentucky recorded the most NBA players from a single college with six selections from their basketball team. Alongside Booker and Towns, their teammates Willey Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, Andrew Harrison, and Dakari Johnson also made it to the league.
That year tied the 2012 NBA Draft for the most selections out of a single college in a year. The 2012 record was also set by Kentucky. Therefore, it can be concluded that Kentucky offers one of the elite basketball programs in the country, and John Calipari, their former head coach, deserves some credit for that.
