NBA champion warns of basketball “unicorns” preparing to dominate the league

Picking which players from the college game will make the jump to the NBA is always a thankless task. With so many variables at play there is always the risk of an infamous ‘Draft Bust’ but one All-Star has revealed that a new crop of “unicorns” are ready to dominate the NBA.

Kevin Love was selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft and has gone on to represent the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning a championship with the latter in 2016. Casting his eye over the talent during March Madness 2025, Love admitted that the physical attributes of the new generation is setting them apart from previous cohorts.

“Now, you’re getting these guys that are 6-8 plus, 6-10, 7 feet tall, that are just really doing everything out there on the floor,” Love told ESPN. “And I think it’s just incredibly hard to guard and it’s taking the game to a really amazing place as well, because you’re seeing these guys that are unicorns out there, guys that are really doing everything and refining their skills, whereas in the past they might not have worked on these things.

“The growth within the game, it’s really amazing to see where it has gone, especially in the skill and player development at an even earlier age.”

Among those top talents is freshman Cooper Flagg from Duke, the projected No. 1 pick at this year’s draft. The 6ft 9in forward has had a historic first season in the NCAA and is expected to be one of only a handful of prep-to-pro players who are selected No. 1 overall.

Flagg will be followed in the NCAA by the likes of Cam Boozer, another multidimensional 6ft 9in talent who has the sort of ball skills and creativity that was rare in previous generations. It’s a development that Love has noticed and believes to be a positive for the game of basketball: “It has really become, like I said, position-less basketball, and guys are able to really do everything out there on the floor. You just didn’t see that when I first came into the league.”

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