Luke Kennard is letting it fly, for a good cause
Luke Kennard is letting it fly, for a good cause
Luke Kennard is launching and making 3's at a career-best and historic rate, and doing so for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Before the season started, shortly after participating in the FedEx St. Jude Celebrity Pro-AM, Luke Kennard made a pledge to donate $50 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for every 3-pointer he made this season to further involve himself with the community and the hospital.
“Earlier this offseason, I wanted to get a little bit more involved. Me and my agency wanted to come up with something that I can be more involved with the kids and St. Jude as a whole. Instead of giving a big donation, I wanted to put something in on it, a little twist. So we just decided that every 3 I make, I’ll donate a certain amount.”
Kennard has always had a desire to help the kids in his community dating back to high school — finding ways to get involved in his hometown, Detroit, and Los Angeles. Kennard has followed along with St. Jude dating back to his days in Detroit, when he visited the hospital when traveling for a road game — something away teams often do whenever their team faced the Grizzlies.
Kennard wanted to get involved with St. Jude as soon as he got traded to Memphis.
“It’s something I’m passionate about. I’ve always tried to give back to the youth and the kids in the community I play,” Kennard said. “With St. Jude, those parents and what they go through, sacrifice day after day, they want the best for their children. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some really, really cool families just doing a couple things so far. They love their children, they want the best for them. For me, to put a smile on their face definitely means a lot to me.”
Kennard knows he has to catch up a little bit, as injuries have sidelined him for 32 games this season. However, he has made up for it with his 3-point shooting performance this season.
Since coming to Memphis, Kennard has shot the most 3’s on a per-minute/possession basis than he ever has in his entire career. He’s firing 8.6 three’s per 36 minutes this season, while he attempted 8.5 three’s per 36 minutes after getting traded to Memphis — up from his prior career-best 7.9 in the 2021-22 season.
He’s also shooting the 3-ball at a 45.3 percent clip, launching him into pretty cool company — if everything holds.
Join Hubert Davis (6), Steph Curry (5), Kyle Korver (5), and Steve Kerr (4) as the only players to shoot 44% or better from 3 in 4 seasons.
Join Steph Curry as the only players to shoot 44% or better from 3 in 4 consecutive seasons — and to shoot 44% or better from 3 on at least 6 three-point attempts per game in multiple seasons.
If you lower the “shots per game” to 4, the list grows to include Korver, Steve Nash, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Joe Ingles, JJ Redick, and Ray Allen. Kennard could accomplish this for his 3rd time (something only Steph, Korver, and Nash have done).
He’s also 2 percentage points away from leading the league in 3-point percentage for the 3rd consecutive season, the first player to accomplish this. (The player in his way? Former Duke teammate, former Grizzly Grayson Allen.)
Kennard, from a historical and statistical standpoint, is among a pantheon of elite shooters. His shooting has been an asset on this Grizzlies team, and Taylor Jenkins continues to tap into Kennard’s elite skill.
“It’s awesome to have someone of Luke’s caliber and capability. We got to get him the ball more, that’s what it comes down to,” the Grizzlies head coach said. “I think he’s getting into a comfort zone. That’s a credit to him, all the work he’s been putting in and he’s got a feel for who he is as a player. Despite what’s going on with our roster right now. I think the recent stretch you have seen him getting the ball more, being more aggressive when the ball is in his hands.”
Through Kennard’s Grizzlies’ tenure, there’s been some sort of adjustment period — acclimating to a new team, returning from injury, and being a focal point of the team’s playmaking. This short-handed stretch has been the most intriguing though. Even with the ball in his hands more often, and while sitting higher on the opposition’s scouting report, his 3-ball has stayed consistent — averaging 12.7 points points per game on 47.2% shooting from 3 on 6.5 attempts per game in 19 games since January 13th.
“For me, I try not to force anything for the most part, and just try to play within the flow of the game,” Kennard said, acknowledging being ready to shoot the ball. “They want me to continue being aggressive as much as I can. With that, I want to continue to make the right plays.”
While Kennard has typically fed off his teammates gravity and spotting up against a titled defense, the Grizzlies are deploying him in a variety of ways — a product of the short-handed roster, and of their belief in his overall skillset. He’s seeing a shift in his usage — a sign the Grizzlies are running more actions for him to generate cleaner looks from distance.
Off screen frequency: 11.8% of his plays -> 13.3%
Handoffs: 6.4% -> 12.5%
PNR ball-handler 8.2 -> 11.6%
The efficiency in these play-types have slightly lowered, partly due to his heightened role and the absence of guard depth. However, during this short-handed stretch, Jenkins and the coaching staff are emphasizing Kennard through the sets run for him.
“Coach has done a really good job of putting me in situations to get open and get good looks,” Kennard said. “Guys are making the right plays and hitting the right guys that are open.”
Off screens, the Grizzlies have deployed a plethora of actions to generate looks for Kennard — often in Stagger Away, some flare screens, elevator screen variations, and screen-the-screener (STS) actions.
In handoff’s, the Grizzlies have found Kennard open within variations of Miami (DHO into a screen) and Chicago (pindown into a DHO) — blending handoff and “off screen” actions,
Kennard has also been utilized in pick-and-roll actions as both a screener and ball-handler — technically the Miami action above would suffice as a “pick-and-roll action.” His screening is typically more of a ghost screen to stir confusion between the defenders to create a look for himself or the ball-handler. Also, need more pick-and-roll’s with Jaren Jackson as the ball-handler and a shooter setting the screen. So many possibilities out of these actions.
Kennard’s ability to adapt and still let it fly with consistency — from an accuracy and volume standpoint — has been a nice constant for this stretch of the season.
“It’s just his adaptation, which has been awesome to see, and we need more of it,” Taylor Jenkins said of Kennard. “I think he’s got a huge impact on our roster. We saw it last year, but even despite what we’re going through this year, he’s got a big impact on the offensive side.”
Luke Kennard’s 3-point shooting has made him a valuable fixture in the team’s construction on the court. Off the court, Kennard is eager to have even more impact in the community.
Any chance I can to do an event, a signing, whatever or whoever it’s for, I like to jump on those opportunities whenever I can.
Kennard has made 92 three’s (and counting) so far this season, equating to $4600 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital from him and his agency, CAA. He’s looking to expand upon his 3-point pledge to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — from more opportunities to engage with the patients and the hospital, to getting his teammates involved as well. He’s visited St. Jude’s campus a few times, particularly on the outdoor court to shoot hoops with patients, but is excited to explore more of the hospital to visit some of the kids.
“Any chance we get to go out and make an impact out there is very important. With our platform, with Memphis, since I’ve been here, how big Grizzlies basketball is — how much it means to this community. A lot of guys have done a lot in this community,” Kennard said. “For me, how passionate I am about kids and helping them out as much as I can. St. Jude was a great opportunity for me to get out and really be involved in the community.”
If you choose to support my Substack, SubTsakalidis — aka “SubTsak” — follow this link to my Allie’s Allies St. Jude fundraiser page. If you choose to subscribe, all proceeds will go towards St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.