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.
KCP to beat the shot clock!😤
(📺: TNT) pic.twitter.com/KObHdK9WBZ
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 21, 2020
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 25, 2020
