The NBA took a day off as a courtesy to the national championship game between Kentucky Wildcats and UConn Huskies, and most around the league were glued to the television on Monday night.
The quest for the NCAA title always draws massive interest, but this one was particularly special for so many that are and have been in the NBA because of Kevin Ollie – the long-time, respected NBA veteran turned head coach of the Huskies. With his great leadership and the phenomenal play of Shabazz Napier – who had 22 points on eight-of-16 shooting to go with six rebounds, three assists and three steals – UConn went on to beat John Calipari’s Wildcats 60-54.
Of course, there were plenty of reactions on twitter as the game came to a conclusion. Most were simply ecstatic for Ollie and his great success, some wished their former team could have won, a certain King thought no guard should be drafted ahead of Napier, and others were less than pleased with how the game concluded. See the thoughts of many around the league below:
Congrats to Kevin Ollie. Happy for him.
— DeMar DeRozan (@DeMar_DeRozan) April 8, 2014
An unbelievable tournament by 2 great teams congrats to the champs @UConnMBB and a tip of the cap to the @KentuckyMBB well done young Cats — Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) April 8, 2014
I’m still proud of my Cats. They matured at the end of the season and played unbelievably. Go Big Blue!!! It was a fun ride. #BBN — Nazr Mohammed (@NazrMohammed) April 8, 2014
Good run boys! #WeAreUK #BBN4LIFE — demarcus cousins (@boogiecousins) April 8, 2014
Despite the loss.. Extremely proud of those men. Battled scrutiny & criticism all year long. Believed in themselves & made it this far. #BBN — Patrick Patterson (@pdpatt) April 8, 2014
Give credit to @KentuckyMBB they fought hard and stayed together. #maturefreshman #superheartandcharacter — Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) April 8, 2014
So proud of the young’ns #husky4lyfe — Rudy Gay (@rudygay22) April 8, 2014
Great season to my KY boys! Keep ya heads up!!#BBN
— Jodie Meeks (@Jmeeks20) April 8, 2014
Congrats to Kevin Ollie and Uconn fun game to watch. Great run by Kentucky too!
— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) April 8, 2014
I’m some kind of college basketball expert, I picked UCONN to lose EVERY game in the tourney… Congrats to Kevin Ollie, great teammate. — Austin Croshere (@AustinCroshere) April 8, 2014
Kevin Ollie @UConn This will allow more ex-nba players the opportunity to coach college #Greatness #IWantToCoachCollege — TJ Ford (@tj_ford) April 8, 2014
Kevin Ollie = NBA players now coaching. Great to see his @UConnHuskies get the win!! #playercoach #basketballiq #nba2college #great4dagame — Baron Davis (@Baron_Davis) April 8, 2014
Couldn’t be prouder of Coach Kevin Ollie. From the Shaw, to NCAA Champion! #perseverance #uconnway — Bruce Bowen (@Bowen12) April 8, 2014
Wow what a game. Congrats to Kevin Ollie and the uconn huskies. Julius randle great season. — Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) April 8, 2014
If you read my @FoxSportsWest blog, I picked UCONN, congrats to Coach Ollie and the Huskies #SonosGameDay — Ryan Hollins (@TheRyanHollins) April 8, 2014
Seriously why foul just to call a timeout only to NOT foul?!
— Damien Wilkins (@dwilkins3000) April 8, 2014
RT @kevinlove: Congrats to Kevin Ollie and UConn. Well deserved.
— Russell Westbrook (@russwest44) April 8, 2014
Congrats UCONN and Kevin Ollie, couldn’t have happened to a better guy!!! — Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) April 8, 2014
So happy for our program Kevin Ollie was amazing nobody gave us a chance.#Champions #fighters#UConn — Caron Butler (@realtuffjuice) April 8, 2014
I’m sorry but Cal isn’t a good coach bruh — Damien Wilkins (@dwilkins3000) April 8, 2014
Free throws free throws free throws……….. Night y’all…congrats #UConn and K.O. — Dominique Wilkins (@DWilkins21) April 8, 2014
My boy @Enes_Kanter crying right now — rudy gobert (@rudygobert15) April 8, 2014
That boy KO did it. Congrats fam! — Andre Iguodala (@andre) April 8, 2014
Why didn’t we foul right away
— chuck hayes (@c_hayes44) April 8, 2014
Why did UK foul the possession before??? Makes no sense.
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) April 8, 2014
I’m extremely and HAPPY as I don’t know what for K.O and his Huskies! Congrats on winning the Nat’l Championship
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 8, 2014
No way u take another PG in the lottery before Napier.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 8, 2014
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.