Between Wednesday’s late game and Thanksgiving, this fell through the cracks, but ESPN has a great profile of Kenny Payne that will make you appreciate Kentucky’s big man guru even more. Justin Verrier describes how Payne helped develop Karl Towns and Anthony Davis into two of the best big men in the NBA in part by starting a friendly rivalry between them dating back to Karl’s freshman year at UK. According to Verrier, when Payne caught Karl trash talking about wanting to go up against Anthony and the rest of the Olympic team, he whipped out his phone and called Anthony to tell him, sowing the seeds to one of the NBA’s best burgeoning rivalries.
A great Kenny Payne profile that’s worth your time
