UConn men’s basketball fans know about the special coach-player relationship that Dan Hurley and Alex Karaban shared through the years.

The phrase “mutual admiration society” doesn’t begin to cover it. They’ve talked at length about what one has done for the other, with Karaban crediting Hurley for helping to shape the person and player he grew into coming from his hometown of Southborough, Mass., to UConn.

Hurley has said many times that Karaban helped to instill the culture and the work ethic at UConn, lauding him not only for his basketball abilities but also for his leadership.

Karaban, who was selected in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, is now a member of the Sacramento Kings. And when he and the other draft picks met the media there for the first time on Monday, Karaban revealed something that Hurley used to say about him, not really known to the public.

A few days ago, the Kings unveiled the jersey numbers for the draft picks.

Darius Acuff, the No. 7 overall pick from Arkansas, will wear 5. Fellow guard Emanuel Sharp, a second-round pick from Houston, has 34. And Karaban chose 33.

A reporter asked the trio what was behind the numbers they selected, Karaban had the most interesting answer.

His number at UConn was 11, currently worn in Sacramento by veteran center Domantas Sabonis. Some fans probably assumed Karaban chose 33 because he liked the same digits.

Wrong. Karaban explained.

“Coach Hurley called me Larry Bird a lot, so I had to go with 33,” he said. “And, um, a couple of my options were taken, so I went with 33. As a Boston kid, too, you're surrounded by Larry Bird memories and just everything that's about him, so just went with that.”

If Karaban has even a smidgeon of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame career that Bird had, the Kings would be delighted,

For fans too young to remember Bird, take a look at some of his accomplishments.

The Celtics selected Bird with the No. 6 pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, though he deferred entry into the NBA for a season as he chose to stay in school at Indiana State to try to win a national championship. His Sycamores lost to Magic Johnson's Michigan State in 1979.

Taken ahead of Bird in the draft:

No. 1: Mychal Thompson (Portland Trail Blazers, from Minnesota)
No. 2: Phil Ford (Kansas City Kings, from North Carolina)
No. 3: Rick Robey (Indiana Pacers, from Kentucky)
No. 4: Michael Ray Richardson (New York Knicks, from Montana)
No. 5: Purvis Short (Golden State Warriors, from Jackson State)

Each of those players spent at least seven seasons in the NBA, but none came close to putting up numbers and winning honors like Bird.

These are Bird’s NBA achievements – giving Karaban some very big goals to shoot for.

12-time All-Star
10-time All-NBA selection
1979-80 Rookie of Year
3-time NBA Most Valuable Player
3 NBA championships
3-time All-Defensive team
2-time NBA Finals MVP
NBA 75th Anniversary team

He also won the 1992 Olympics gold medal with the Dream Team in Barcelona, Spain. And he has his own museum in his native Indiana.

Bird played 13 seasons, all with the Celtics, and averaged 24.3 points, 10.0 total rebounds, 6.3 assists and 38.4 minutes over 897 career games. He shot 49.6% from the field, 37.6% from 3-point territory and 88.6% from the foul line.

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