Skip to main content
Azeez Ojulari Has Earned First Round Hype
Azeez Ojulari Has Earned First Round Hype

Sunday was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's First Game Against a Fellow Bulldog

Former Bulldog Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is in his eighth NBA season and before Sunday, he had never played against another former Bulldog.

Meeting a fellow Georgia Bulldog in the NBA is something Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had never done in his career before Sunday. 

Caldwell-Pope's Los Angeles Lakers hosted a Minnesota Timberwolves squad featuring rookie and No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Edwards. The Lakers dominated and won 127-91.

Caldwell-Pope started the game and played 23 minutes, sinking all three of his field-goal attempts. He added a pair of rebounds and assists and finished with eight points. Edwards played 29 minutes off the bench, scoring 15 points and grabbing four rebounds.

The fact that Caldwell-Pope had never met a former Georgia basketball player in the NBA before shows how far the program fell during the Dennis Felton and Mark Fox years. Caldwell-Pope was the last Bulldog drafted until the Brooklyn Nets selected Nicolas Claxton in 2019. 

USATSI_15366806

Eight Bulldogs entered the NBA through the draft between 1990 and 2004, and two more entered as undrafted free agents. Since 2004, only six Bulldogs have entered the NBA. A seventh, Rayshaun Hammonds, is currently unsigned after being waived by the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 18. Caldwell-Pope, Edwards and Claxton are currently the only Bulldogs on an NBA roster.

Caldwell-Pope is starting his eighth season in the league. He began his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons in 2013. Several former Georgia basketball players ended their NBA careers before Pope entered the league.

Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie lasted only one season with the Los Angeles Clippers (2011-12) and have never returned to the NBA. Thompkins and Leslie could have spent a season in Athens with Caldwell-Pope, but the duo decided to enter the NBA after their junior seasons instead.

Damien Wilkins left the NBA after the 2012-13 season, right before Caldwell-Pope entered the league. Wilkins returned to the NBA with the Pacers during the 2017-18 season, but he never played against Caldwell-Pope.

Sundiata Gaines's short but eventful NBA career ended after the 2011-12 season. Jarvis Hayes ended his career two years after the 2009-10 season. 

Wilkins and Gaines were the last pair of Bulldogs to play each other in the NBA, meeting three times between March 2010 and February 2012.