Who Is Luke Kennard Of NBA? Here’s All You Need To Know

Quick Facts

Luke Kennard of the Detroit Pistons is an American professional basketball player who has a very bright future in the NBA. Known to have played college basketball with the Duke Blue Devils, Kennard has always shown he skills as he has landed many prestigious titles as far back as his high school days through to his college days.

He gave up his junior and senior years in college to join the NBA draft in 2017 and as expected for such a talented player, he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons. Kennard has proved to many he had what it takes to be a professional player as he recorded a very successful season with the Detroit Pistons that ESPN analyst Jay Williams considers him one of the fastest shooters in the NBA league.

Luke Kennard Early Life

The NBA player was born in Middletown on June 24th, 1996 with the full name Luke Douglas Kennard and he is said to have gone to Franklin High School in Ohio where he was an active member on his school’s basketball team. Luke Kennard skill in his game during his days at Franklin High landed him the title of Ohio Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year twice, first in his junior year and later in his senior year.

After high school, he proceeded to Duke University where he also continued to shine in his career as he is said to have recorded in his freshman year average points of 11.8, making 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in a game. His sophomore year was an improvement on his freshman year as Kennard recorded 19.5 average total points, made 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists in a game which earned him the title first-team All-ACC.

NBA Career At Detriot Piston 

Due to the success of his college career, Luke Kennard made an announcement that he was going to forgo his final two years in college and enter the 2017 NBA draft which turned out to be a move in the right direction as he was drafted in the 12th position overall by Detroit Pistons. He recorded his NBA debut match against the Washington Wizards on October 20, 2017, in which he scored 11 points and made 2 steals in 18 minutes off the bench.

That same year, Luke Kennard recorded his first career start on December 15, 2017, against the Indiana Pacers in which he also scored 9 points, made 5 rebounds and 4 assists in their victory match. In 2018, the player made his first career double-double in January when he scored 10 points and made 10 rebounds and by April 2018, he recorded a career-high point of 23.

So far in his professional career, Kennard is known to have given his best in his matches for the Detriot Pistons, however, as the season was winding up, the player revealed that he had to increase his strength during games in order for him to be an excellent defender. His good qualities were also highlighted which included his high basketball IQ that is seen in how he handles spacing and grasp and analysts revealed that if he continues to improve on it, his offensive skill would also be better in the next season.

ESPN’s Jay Williams has a lot of praises for the Piston player as he applauds Kennard’s ability to play, dribble and make accurate shots which makes him according to him one of the fastest shooters in the NBA currently.

More Facts About Luke Kennard

Kennard is ranked number 2 in Ohio State’s history as an athlete who finished his high school career with 2,977 points and this made him a highly sought after recruit for college.

The NBA star has been named Mr. Basketball twice in Ohio state.

Duke University signed Kennard among its 25 top recruits.

He is said to have played in 73 games for his college team the Blue Devils during which he landed the title All-ACC and MVP of the ACC.

During a mock draft that was conducted via NBA.com, predictions pointed that Kennard would be playing for by the Denver Nuggets as No.13 but the survey also predicted that he would end up with the Detroit Pistons at No. 12 and the latter turned out to be true as he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2017 NBA draft.

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