Tag: kcp lakers

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog on new deal

LeBron James congratulates former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on signing a new deal with the Los Angeles Lakers

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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win an NBA Championship this past season. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat in a six-game series, where Caldwell-Pope was often Los Angeles’ third option behind James and Anthony Davis.

Following the Lakers’ championship, Caldwell-Pope was set to enter free agency. He earned leverage after his impressive postseason and had interest from numerous teams in the NBA. Now, per The Athletics’ Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are re-signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to a three year, $40M deal.

Caldwell-Pope is set to make an average of $15M over the next two seasons, and he has a partially guaranteed third year in the contract. He’ll look to win more championships in Los Angeles.

James congratulated his teammate on his new deal via his Twitter account:

The Lakers are happy whenever James is happy, so it is a great deal for L.A., which will still have a large role for Caldwell-Pope.

Here’s how the basketball world reacted to Caldwell-Pope’s new contract with the Lakers:

This lineup is already a little bit outdated, but the Lakers are looking stacked:

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Kentavious Caldwell-Pope captures first NBA Finals ring

Former Georgia basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope captures his first NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers

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It was an emotional Sunday night for the Los Angeles Lakers to say the least.ย  Just months after the tragic passing of Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, and after months of being inside the NBA bubble in Orlando, FL, the Lakers are NBA Finals champions for the 17th time.

Led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Los Angeles managed to defeat the red hot Miami Heat in six games.ย  The Lakers are now tied with the Boston Celtics for most championships ever by a franchise.

Of the supporting cast around the two superstars, former Georgia standout Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was one that made a big difference.

Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1 steal per game during the 2020 playoffs.ย  In the game six closeout game on Sunday night, Caldwell-Pope put up big numbers, going for 17 points and a pair of rebounds.

Caldwell-Pope will go down in history as an NBA champion in a year that many say was the hardest championship ever won.ย  Congrats to KCP on an incredible championship run.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ‘saved us’

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping win game one of the NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis credited former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for helping the Lakers win game one of the NBA Finals. Los Angeles defeated the Miami Heat 116-98 in a disastrous game for the Heat. Miami lost and suffered several key injuries to Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic.

Before the Lakers took a comfortable lead, Miami raced out to a 23-10 lead in the first quarter. Los Angeles looked lost offensively and LeBron James checked out of the game for his usual rest.

Needing a spark offensively, some open looks fell to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who buried a pair of threes and scored a few points in the paint. KCP helped stave off Miami’s initial onslaught.

Los Angeles, led by the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James, didn’t look back from there. The Lakers outscored the Heat 55-25 for the rest of the first half. The Heat never cut the Lakers lead to single digits for the whole second half.

Following the game, Anthony Davis credited Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He said that:

“KCP saved us.”

Davis and the Lakers will look to defeat the Heat next on Friday night. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has a large role on the team and plays the third-most minutes for LA. He doesn’t have to shoulder a massive scoring burden, but the team looks for him to step up in some big moments.

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Former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope makes NBA finals

Former Georgia Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has made his first career NBA Finals for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Former Georgia Bulldog basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has made his first career NBA Finals. Caldwell-Pope and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope began his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons. Detroit selected the Greenville, Georgia product with the 8th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Following four years with the Pistons, Caldwell-Pope joined the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in 2017. Caldwell-Pope hasn’t had to play as heavy of minutes for the Lakers, but he’s still making an impact.

In fact, for the first four games of the series Caldwell-Pope has stepped up to be the Lakers’ third option against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers have a dynamic duo in LeBron James and Anthony Davis that handles much of the scoring and playmaking burden for Los Angeles. While point guard Rajon Rondo is certainly the Lakers’ third playmaker, Caldwell-Pope has averaged 13.5 points per game throughout the first four games conference finals while shooting at an efficient clip.

The former Georgia player only scored 2 points in Game 5 against Denver, but he only took two shots. His defense and unselfishness helped Los Angeles get the win along with a 38 point triple-double from LeBron James.

KCP has shot 42.1% from three point range this postseason opening up countless driving lanes for LeBron James. The Lakers will face the winner of the Miami Heat versus Boston Celtics Eastern Conference Finals series.

Despite the heavy pressure of playing for the Lakers in the playoffs, Caldwell-Pope has been able to make some big-time plays in key moments throughout the Western Conference Finals.

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Lakers need Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to win NBA championship

The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James desperately need Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s defense and shooting this postseason.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference after the NBA resumed action in Orlando, Florida. At 52-19, the Lakers gamble to trade for Anthony Davis has paid off. Los Angeles has won fifteen more games than last season thanks to the unstoppable combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers accomplished this despite playing eleven games less than in 2018-2019.

LeBron has taken over L.A.’s point guard duties and leads the NBA in assists per game at 10.2. Many of LeBron’s assists have been to former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

KCP is averaging only 9.3 points per game, but he is doing so at the most efficient clip of his career. KCP is shooting 46.7% from the field and 38.5% from three point territory this season. Each of these numbers are the best of his seven season NBA career.

The Lakers desperately need Caldwell-Pope’s defense and shooting this postseason. His improved efficiency will be key for the Lakers. Caldwell-Pope may be tasked with defending Portland’s Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the first round of the playoffs, if the Trailblazers defeat the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in game for the eight seed in the Western Conference.

Caldwell-Pope will play a large role in the playoffs because Avery Bradley elected not to participate in the NBA’s return. Yes, Los Angeles signed J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters, but that duo doesn’t have KCP’s chemistry with the Lakers starting lineup. The Georgia Bulldog great, KCP, will have the most pressure he’s ever faced in his NBA career.

KCP’s significant workload in the NBA postseason will be something we haven’t seen out of a Georgia Bulldog in quite sometime. It’ll be fun to watch for UGA fans moving forward!

Mar 8, 2020; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) celebrate in the fourth quarter against the LA Clippers atStaples Center. The Lakers defeated the Clippers 112-100.ย  Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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Georgia basketball’s all-time NBA starting five

What would the all-time NBA starting five be for the Georgia Bulldogs?

What would the all-time NBA starting five be for the Georgia Bulldogs? The Georgia Bulldogs have a potential number one pick in Anthony Edwards. He may be the next player to make UGA’s all-time NBA team.

Edwards will make it the first time Georgia basketball has had players picked in connective NBA Drafts since 2003-2004.

Vern Fleming

Fleming played a dozen NBA seasons averaging 11.3 points per game. He doesn’t offer much shooting at the point guard position. Fleming mostly played for the Indiana Pacers.

Dominique Wilkins

There’s no doubt that Wilkins is the star of this team. Wilkins is the best NBA player in Georgia history. He averaged 24.8 points per game over his career. Wilkins primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks as a small forward. He made nine consecutive NBA All-Star games from 1986-1994.

Feb 4, 1988; Seattle, WA, USA: ; Atlanta Hawks forward Dominique Wilkins (21) prior to the game against the Seattle Supersonics at the Center Coliseum. Credit: USA TODAY Sports
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Lakers relying on Georgia’s Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in title quest

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is expected to play a key role for L.A. in the NBA Playoffs.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference after the NBA All-Star break. At 44-12, the Lakers gamble to trade for Anthony Davis has paid off. Los Angeles has already won more games than last season thanks to the unstoppable combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

LeBron has taken over L.A.’s point guard duties and leads the NBA in assists by over 1.5 assists per game. Many of LeBron’s assists come to former Georgia Bulldog great Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

KCP is averaging only 9.6 points per game, but he is doing so at the most efficient clip of his career. KCP is shooting 47% from the field and 40.7% from three point territory this season. Each of these numbers are the best of his seven season NBA career.

The Lakers desperately need Caldwell-Pope’s defense and shooting this postseason. His improved efficiency will be key for the Lakers to watch moving forward.

L.A. elected to stay quiet at the trade deadline, but they need perimeter help, or perimeter players like KCP to emerge. Yes, they recently added Markieff Morris, but they need to take some of the ball-handling pressure off LeBron. KCP can help do that.

KCP will have a significant workload in the NBA postseason, something we haven’t seen out of a Georgia Bulldog in quite sometime. It’ll be fun to watch for UGA fans moving forward!

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