Kevin Knox (basketball)


Kevin Devon Knox II is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats and attended high school at Tampa Catholic High School.

High school career

Knox attended Tampa Catholic High School in Tampa, Florida. As a junior, he averaged 30.1 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, and 2.4 assists while leading the Crusaders to regional and district championships and runner-up to the 2016 Florida Class 4A semifinals. In the 2016 summer, he joined his AAU team, E1T1 United on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Circuit. On May 14, 2016, Knox scored career high 28 points in a win against All Ohio Red. He averaged 19.6 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game on the EYBL circuit. As a senior, Knox averaged 28.5 points per game and 11.3 rebounds per game leading Tampa Catholic to a record. He played in the McDonald's All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic. He was a five-star recruit and was regarded as one of the top players in the 2017 class. On May 6, 2017, Knox committed to play basketball at the University of Kentucky, spurning offers from Duke, Florida State, Missouri and North Carolina. He also turned down a professional offer to play in the Chinese Basketball Association as well.

College career

In his freshman season, Knox led the young Wildcats to a 10-8 conference record, finishing 4th in the SEC, but still led the team with 15.9 points per game. As one of the team's only three point shooting threats, he frequently played big minutes, leading Calipari to complain that Knox was playing "too many" minutes as early as December. Despite this, he went to be named to the All-Rookie and First Team All-SEC. The team turned around their fortunes in time to win the SEC tournament, with Knox totaling 18 points and 7 rebounds in the final against Tennessee.
On April 6, 2018, Knox declared for the 2018 NBA draft and hired an agent, foregoing his final three years of college eligibility.

Professional career

New York Knicks (2018–present)

On June 21, 2018, Knox was selected with the ninth overall pick by the New York Knicks in the 2018 NBA draft. On July 5, 2018, the New York Knicks announced that they had signed Knox. On October 17, 2018, Knox made his debut in NBA, coming off the bench in a 126–107 win over the Atlanta Hawks with ten points, two steals and a block. Two days later on October 19, Knox scored team-high 17 points with six rebounds in a 105–107 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. One day later, Knox sprained his left ankle in a 101–103 loss to the Boston Celtics. Knox later returned to action and on December 1, 2018, Knox scored his career-high 26 points with four rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block in a 136–134 overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Knox then received the Eastern Conference's December 2018 NBA Rookie of the Month Award. On January 13, 2019, Knox scored his career-high 31 points with seven rebounds, and two steals in a 105–108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.

National team career

Knox won two gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2015 FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship and 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

College

Personal life

Knox II is the son of former NFL receiver Kevin Knox. On September 4, 2018, Puma signed Knox to a multi-year endorsement deal.