Two days before John Calipari makes his return to Rupp Arena, the NBA offered another reminder of his past as the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.
The selections for the league’s 2025 All-Star Game were announced Thursday night on TNT, and four former UK basketball players have been picked for the Feb. 16 showcase in San Francisco.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns had already been voted in as All-Star Game starters, an honor that was revealed last week.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who played for the Cats during the 2017-18 season, will start in his second consecutive All-Star Game and is the current favorite to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, something that no former Wildcat has ever achieved.
Towns, who was a four-time All-Star during his nine seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was voted in as a starter for the first time in his 10-year career. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA draft after helping lead UK to a 38-1 record during the 2014-15 season.
Those two will be joined in next month’s All-Star Game by Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro and Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis, who were announced as reserves Thursday night. This is the 10th NBA All-Star selection for Davis, who is in his 13th season in the league after leading the Wildcats to the 2012 national title. It’s the first All-Star Game selection for Herro, who played for Kentucky during the 2018-19 season.
All four were at UK under Calipari, who left Lexington last year to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks and will bring his new team to Rupp Arena for a game against coach Mark Pope and the No. 12-ranked Wildcats on Saturday night.
A few other former Calipari players likely just missed the cut for this year’s All-Star Game.
The starters are selected by a fan vote — along with media and player voting — and the reserves are picked by the league’s coaches.
Devin Booker, De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Maxey were all mentioned as possible 2025 All-Stars in the days and weeks leading up to the full roster reveal Thursday night, but none of those former Wildcats made the cut.
Kentucky set a record with seven All-Star selections last year, with Davis, Gilgeous-Alexander and Towns joined by Booker, Maxey, Bam Adebayo and Julius Randle. The previous record for most All-Stars in a single game from one college program was four, which had been achieved twice in recent years by UK and once in the 1980s by UCLA.
Kentucky hit that number again Thursday night, with the addition of Herro and Davis to this year’s game. No other college had more than one former player picked for the event.
Maxey entered the day ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring with 27.1 points per game, but his Philadelphia 76ers have underwhelmed this season. The teams of Booker (Phoenix Suns) and Fox (Sacramento Kings) are both right around the .500 mark at the moment, and Fox has been the subject of intense trade speculation in recent days.
Booker entered Thursday at 11th in the league in scoring (25.5 ppg) and Fox was 13th (25.1).
Herro, who has never been picked as an All-Star but is in the middle of his best season as a pro, is 18th in the NBA in scoring, averaging 24.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game while shooting 40.0% from 3-point range. He’s fourth in the league in 3-pointers made per game behind Stephen Curry, LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards, three of the sport’s biggest stars.
This year’s All-Star Game will be played Feb. 16 in the home of the Golden State Warriors and televised on TNT. The event will feature a mini-tournament format instead of a traditional game.
NBA All-Star teams
A look at all of the selections for the 2025 All-Star Game:
Eastern Conference starters: Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks).
Eastern Conference reserves: Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Pascal Siakam (Pacers), Darius Garland (Cavaliers), Cade Cunningham (Pistons), Evan Mobley (Cavaliers), Tyler Herro (Heat), Damian Lillard (Bucks).
Western Conference starters: Stephen Curry (Warriors), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Kevin Durant (Suns), LeBron James (Lakers), Nikola Jokic (Nuggets).
Western Conference reserves: Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), James Harden (Clippers), Anthony Davis (Lakers), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Alperen Sengun (Rockets), Jalen Williams (Thunder), Victor Wembanyama (Spurs).
