Louisville Basketball: NBA Summer League recap for the former Cardinals

Throughout the past month, six former Louisville basketball standouts have taken the court in Las Vegas, as well as California and Salt Lake City, during the NBA Summer League. As those games came to an end over the weekend, multiple former Louisville players kept making a mark on the floor. On Friday night, both J’Vonne Hadley and Malik Williams ended their 2026 NBA Summer League runs. Hadley helped the Miami Heat in a 101-87 victory over the Detroit Pistons while Williams saw action in a 100-91 loss for the Chicago Bulls versus the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hadley logged 28 minutes of play as a starter, scored six points, and grabbed three rebounds, while also tallying one block and one steal. The former Louisville basketball star played in all three games with Miami in the California Classic and all five of their games in Las Vegas. Through his eight games with the Heat, Hadley averaged 5.6 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game. Ryan Conwell, who the Heat picked in the second round of the recent NBA Draft, played alongside Hadley in a total of four games between California and Las Vegas before the team shut him down for the remainder of summer league. The sharpshooter averaged 20.5 points per game and 3.0 assists per game this summer with the Heat. Williams played 10 minutes off the bench for Chicago on Friday night and in those minutes tallied five points, eight rebounds, and two assists. The big man played an average of 15.8 minutes per game off the bench and played in all five of the Bulls’ games in Las Vegas. In that time, Williams averaged 5.6 rebounds per game and nearly five points per game. Selected sixth overall by the Brooklyn Nets in last month’s NBA draft, Mike Brown Jr. was the notable former Louisville player playing at summer league this year. Between California and Las Vegas, Brown played in four games for the Nets this summer. In those contests, Brown averaged 15 points and four assists per game. Isaac McKneely played with the Atlanta Hawks at summer league and saw his action come to an end on Thursday night, leaving a 96-64 loss versus the Memphis Grizzlies in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Playing in a total of seven games this summer and being a starter in his final five appearances, McKneely averaged 6.7 points per game. Chucky Hepburn appeared in two games as the starting point guard for the Toronto Raptors at the Las Vegas summer league. Being a key distributor, Hepburn averaged 6.5 assists in those games. The best performance for the former Louisville basketball standout came in their opener as he scored 11 points, grabbed two rebounds, and dished out five assists.