Reed Sheppard has put the NBA on notice in just a few Summer League games -- with multiple standout performances for the former Kentucky basketball guard.
Shapprd dazzled in his debut on Friday night as he finished with 23 points on 9-of-17 from the floor and added four rebounds and five assists. All of the talk was 'Reed Sheppard is too good for the Summer League'.
Then, he followed up his debut with another terrific performance. On Friday, Sheppard had 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, six rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
So, through two games, he was averaging 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game
And that when he started to get some NBA All-Stars talking ... yes, just two games into his professional career. And, in the Summer League nonetheless.
Trae Young took to social media on Friday and said, "Reed Sheppard nice y’all !!". Ja Morant followed up with two exclamation points in response to Young's tweet.
"Game recognize game," Young later said when he was asked about his original tweet.
As for Sheppard's response?
"That's really cool," Sheppard said in response. "The last couple of years I've grown up watching them in the NBA and think they're tremendous players."
He finished with 16 points and five rebounds on Monday night in his third game of the summer.
Sheppard, who was the third overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft, played just one season at Kentucky and became the highest-selected Wildcat since 2017.
Entering Summer League play, Sheppard was given the fifth highest odds to win Rookie of the Year. After two games, those odds are likely to keep improving.
Game recognize game 🤝@TheTraeYoung & @JaMorant showing love to Reed Sheppard! pic.twitter.com/JdfgrtfMX6
— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2024