Smartest NBA players by GPA, degree: Eastern Conference

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics)

Tatum told ESPN that he graduated high school with a solid 3.5 GPA because his mom was strict about good grades. Duke never listed a college major for Tatum, but regardless, he didn’t graduate since he left for the NBA after one year. 

Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets) 

Editor’s note: Traded to the Suns, but led the Nets in average points for 2023. 

Durant maintained a 3.0 GPA during his freshman fall semester at Texas.

“I’m still upset I got a ‘C’ instead of an ‘A’ in a minority leadership class,” Durant said to the local media as a freshman at Texas. “I need to do better this spring.” 

Durant didn’t attain a degree before he opted for the draft. However, eight years after starting his NBA career, he showed off his “Masters of Law” degree on Twitter (from Seat Pleasant University, 2015).  

Julius Randle (New York Knicks) 

Randle graduated high school with a GPA above 3.0. Kentucky never listed his college major, but regardless, he didn’t attain a degree since he left school after one year. 

Randle hasn’t announced any plans to return to college, but he did participate in a four-day Harvard Business School class titled, “The Business of Entertainment: Media and Sports.”

Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers)

Embiid’s GPA is N/A. He was undecided in his major at Kansas. Although Embiid didn’t graduate, he has made it clear that school was important to him and his family. 

“No, the reason I couldn’t watch the NBA is because my mom was super, super strict about school,” Embiid wrote for The Players Tribune. “She didn’t play around. I could never stay up to watch the games. Every single day it was: wake up, eat, go to school from seven to five, run home and take a nap, wake up and eat dinner, then study until like midnight. I’m telling you — school is too easy in America, man. In Cameroon, it’s crazy. Elementary school is like college. I didn’t even have any friends because all I ever did was sleep and do homework.” 

Embiid told The Topeka Capital-Journal in 2017 that he wanted to stay at Kansas for longer, but he was “pushed” into the pros. He also noted that he’s “definitely going to come back to finish school.” 

Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors) 

Siakam’s GPA is N/A. He majored in individualized studies at New Mexico State, but it’s unclear if he ever completed his degree. 

“Most importantly, I’d like to thank the university for supporting me in my continued efforts in receiving my college degree,” Siakam wrote upon entering his name into the 2016 NBA Draft. “My time in Las Cruces is not over though. It is my intention to continue my studies and complete the necessary coursework to graduate with my degree from NMSU. I was raised to value education.”