Former Kentucky star frontrunner to win an important NBA Award

Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari has put a ton of talent in the NBA. 

Heading into this season, the Wildcats had 26 players on NBA rosters, which is the most of any college, just ahead of the Duke Blue Devils. The funny thing about all of the Kentucky players in the NBA is that most of them are some of the best players in all of the league. Eight of the top 50 points per game scorers currently in the NBA are former Wildcats. So, Kentucky doesn't have a bunch of role players in the league they have a bunch of stars. 

One star is Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey. He is currently averaging 26.1 points per game, which is 14th best in the NBA. He is also averaging 6.7 assists per contest, which is 14th best in the NBA. His performance has Maxey as the front-runner to win the Most Improved Player Award. He has improved all of his numbers and, alongside Joel Embiid, is a big reason why the 76ers are 26-13. 

Stephen Noh of NBA Canada Powered by the Sporting News had this to say about Maxey, "James Harden had an All-Star level season last year, and the Sixers have not missed him at all because of the leap that Maxey has made. He's upped his points from 20.3 to 26.2 per game, almost doubled his assists from 3.5 to 6.7, and remained a very efficient scorer. He has shown that he can be Philadelphia's second-best player behind Embiid. He should be a shoo-in for his first All-Star appearance." 

Maxey is becoming a star in the NBA now that Harden has moved on to Los Angeles and could make a deep run in the playoffs this season with the 76ers then potentially win the Most Improved Player Award if he keeps these numbers up.