The Triple Threat!

Chapter 19

All of three of the members were selected in the top ten of the NBA draft.  John Wall and Kyrie Irving were 1st overall, and Damian was 6th overall. All of three are all-stars Kyrie three-times, John and Damian twice. Kyrie and Damian were named rookie of the year.

Damian Lillard

College Career

Damian attended Weber State University for four years. He played in 103 career games (98 starts) over four years with Weber State, averaged 18.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.25 steals in 32.6 minutes, shot 44.6 percent from the field, 39.0 percent from 3-point and 86.7 percent from the foul line. He finished his collegiate career second in Weber State history in career scoring with 1,934 points, and first in 3-pointers made (246), free throws made (520) and free throw percentage (86.7). He is a two-time Big Sky Conference MVP, two-time Weber State Male Athlete of the Year and 2009 Big Sky Freshman of the Year.

NBA Career

Damian was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers In his rookie year he swept the Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards for the entire 2012-2013 season, and set an NBA rookie record for three-point field goals made with 185. He joined Oscar Robertson and Allen Iverson as the only rookies in NBA history to record 1,500 points and 500 assists in a season, and became just one of two Trail Blazers to ever finish with 1,500 points and 500 assists in a season (Clyde Drexler being the other). He was named the unanimous Rookie of the Year and became just the fourth rookie to win the award unanimously joining Blake Griffin (2011), David Robinson (1990), and Ralph Sampson (1984).

In 2014 he was voted in by the coaches to participate in his first All-Star Game. He became the first player in NBA history to take part in five events during NBA All-Star Weekend. Lillard was in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, the Skills Challenge, Three-Point Shootout, and Dunk Contest on Saturday night, and the All-Star game on Sunday night. On May 2, 2014, in game six of the series, Damian hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to clinch the series and send the Trail Blazers to the second round. Portland won the series against Houston 4-2 and would make their first second-round appearance since 2000. Damian joined Ralph Sampson, Michael Jordan, and John Stockton as the only players in NBA history to make a game-winning buzzer beater to clinch a playoff series.

John Wall

College Career

John played one year at the University of Kentucky and helped lead the 2009-10 Wildcats to a 35-3 record, 14-2 mark and first place finish in the Southeastern Conference and to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. As a freshman in 2019-10, averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 assists and 1.8 steals in lone season and set the Kentucky single-game assist record with 16 (11 in the 1st half) in a game versus Hartford (12/29/09). He also set a new Kentucky single-season assist record (241) and holds the record for most points in a season by a Kentucky freshman. John was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year and was named 2010 SEC Tournament MVP and 2010 Consensus All-America first team. He became the first Kentucky player to record double-doubles in both points and rebounds as well as points and assists and was the first-ever Kentucky player drafted number one overall in the NBA Draft.

NBA Career

John was chosen first overall in the 2010 NBA draft. He was named to 2014 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star and recorded 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 15 minutes of action. John was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for four consecutive months (January - April, 2011), became the first player in Wizards' franchise history ever to win the honor in four consecutive months and named to 2011 NBA All-Rookie first team. He was named MVP of the 2011 Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, recorded a Rookie Challenge record 22 assists in that game (2/18/11). On January 30, 2014, Wall was selected as an East reserve for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, making this his first All-Star team. On February 15, 2014, Wall was voted the dunker of the night in the 2014 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, with a double pump reverse assisted by the Wizards' mascot, making it the first win by a Washington Wizard.

Kyrie Irving

College Career

Kyrie played one season for Duke University. He played in 11 games as a freshman, sitting out 26 contests with a toe injury on his right foot. Averaged 17.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, while shooting 52.9 percent from the field, 46.2 percent from behind the 3-point line and 90.1 percent from the free throw line. He injured his toe in win against Butler on Dec. 4, returned to action in the NCAA Tournament and averaged 17.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in Duke's three NCAA outings.

NBA Career

Kyrie was selected with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Cavaliers. Among rookies, ranked first in points per game and free throw percentage and second in three-point percentage and assists per game; ranked fourth in the NBA and first among rookies in points per fourth quarter at 6.4 points per game (min. 35 games); ranked second in the NBA and first among rookies in points per fourth quarter inside the final three-minutes of games at 3.2 per game. He joined Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson and LeBron James as the only No. 1 overall draft picks to average 18.0 points and 5.0 assists during their rookie campaigns. He finished the season averaging at least 18.0 points and shooting 39.9 percent from 3-point range to join Larry Bird as the only rookies in NBA history to accomplish the feat. He became the fourth rookie in league history to average 18.0 points and shoot at least .860 from the free throw line, joining Rick Barry, Kevin Durant and O.J. Mayo. One of six rookies in league history to average 18.0 points, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steal and .450 shooting from the field, along with Alvan Adams, Magic Johnson, Grant Hill and Tyreke Evans.

Kyrie was voted by the fans to be the starting point guard for the Eastern Conference in the 2014 NBA All-Star game. Irving recorded 31 points and 14 assists and went on to win the All-Star game MVP as the East beat the West 163-155  On January 28, 2015 Kyrie scored then career-high 55 points against Portland. His eleven three-pointers against Portland set a Cavaliers franchise record while his 55 points were the second most points scored in Cavaliers history, and the most points scored in a home game for a Cavaliers player, as well as the most points scored in Quicken Loans Arena history. His 28 first half points also set a new career-high for points in a half. On March 12, 2015, Irving scored a career-high 57 points, including a buzzer-beating three-point shot to send the Cavaliers into overtime, in a 128-125 win over the San Antonio Spurs. It was the most points for a player in a regular-season game against the defending champion since January 14, 1962, when Wilt Chamberlain scored 62 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a loss against the Celtics. The effort also surpassed the Cavaliers' franchise single-game scoring mark of 56 points, set by LeBron James against the Toronto Raptors on March 3, 2005.