Kentucky basketball's Chris Livingston has been criticized by NBA scouts for his decision to file for the 2023 NBA Draft. These anonymous officials have gone as far as to say, “If you held a hundred drafts, he’d go unselected in most of them,” according to The Athletic.
Other NBA personnel have also said, “He can probably make more at Kentucky than he can on a two-way. He doesn’t need to bet on himself this early.”
Chris Livingston has chosen otherwise and is about to enter the NBA Draft process for 2023 despite just being a freshman for the Kentucky Wildcats. In his lone season in college so far, he managed to average 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists, with shooting splits of 42.9% from the field and 30.5% from beyond the 3-point line. These statistics are underwhelming for most scouts and even NBA franchises that will get to pick for the upcoming draft. In the best case that he gets drafted, most teams might give him a two-way contract because he only ranks 26th of 30 draft aspirants who share the same birth year.
However, Kentucky head coach John Calipari has a different opinion. Calipari in a tweet praised Livingston for his improvement in a recent workout that he witnessed, noting how “he got so much better for us by the end of the year” and that “he looks like he's taken another leap forward.”
Had a chance to watch @_chrisliv24 work out today and WOW!! He got so much better for us by the end of the year and he looks like he’s taken another leap forward.
Chris is one of the most driven, caring, smart kids I’ve ever coached. I absolutely love him.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 9, 2023
It is a tough decision for freshman Chris Livingston given that he is building up his draft stock too early. However, like his Kentucky head coach, there is nothing much people can do but believe in the young man's ability.
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