How Kentucky would fare against an NBA team has been a popular topic of debate this week. The Wildcats are in the Final Four and favored to win the national championship in the coming days. They have at least four players expected to make it in the NBA, including forward Anthony Davis, who is expected to be the top overall pick.
Charles Barkley, seeming to exaggerate how good Kentucky is, said they could beat some of the worst teams in the NBA. Former Maryland coach Gary Williams, who won a national championship in 2002, said Kentucky could beat the Wizards if they were playing at Rupp Arena. John Calipari tried to quash all that talk, saying his team could not beat any NBA team. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy agreed.
Just to get a little closure on the matter since, you know, everyone loves to debate this sort of thing, Nevada bookmaker Chris Andrews says the Wizards would be favored by 30 points against Kentucky if they played by NBA rules on a neutral court. The Wizards are 11-38 and have the second-worst record in the NBA. Kentucky is 32-2 and the No. 1 team in college basketball.
I’m not really sure why this is a debate given that only a few Kentucky players at present would see playing time on an NBA roster. However, just like any other basketball game where a team is favored by 30 points, anything could happen. And that’s about the chance Kentucky would have at a win.
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