UCLA Well-Represented on NBA Opening Week Rosters
October 21, 2019 | Men's Basketball
The UCLA men's basketball program has 13 former players who are expected to open the NBA season on "Opening Night" rosters across the league this week.
The NBA's 2019-20 season gets underway with a pair of games on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors host the New Orleans Pelicans at 5 p.m. PT (TV: TNT), while the Los Angeles Lakers will face the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m. PT (TV: TNT).
The opening game in Toronto will feature as many as three former UCLA standouts. Entering his fifth year in the NBA, Norman Powell will receive his NBA Championship ring as part of a pregame ceremony at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena. Representing UCLA on the New Orleans roster are guards Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday.
Trevor Ariza, who played as a freshman for the Bruins in 2003-04, will enter his 16th season in the league. Ariza has played for eight teams over the previous 15 seasons. He will open the 2019-20 campaign with the Sacramento Kings, who are set to begin the season on Wednesday evening in Phoenix.
Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook are entering their 12th seasons in the NBA. The duo of former college teammates in 2007-08 have each played in over 650 NBA games through the past 11 seasons. Love is entering his sixth season with the Cleveland Cavs, having averaged 18.3 points and 11.3 rebounds in 657 career NBA contests.
Westbrook begins his first season with the Houston Rockets after having spent the past 11 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The former standout at UCLA (2006-07, 2007-08) has averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.4 assists per game through 821 career contests. Westbrook has secured eight NBA All-Star Game appearances in his 11-year career.
Holiday is set to begin his 11th NBA season this week, his seventh year with New Orleans. Last season, Holiday averaged a career-best 21.2 points per game and also tallied a career-high 5.0 rebounds per game. In 10 previous seasons, he has played in 652 games, making 579 starts. He enters the 2019-20 campaign as one of four former UCLA players to have competed in the NBA for at least 10 seasons.
Kyle Anderson (Memphis Grizzlies) and Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls) are each entering their sixth NBA season. Anderson will begin his second season with Memphis, while LaVine will start his third year with Chicago. Both players registered career highs in points per game last season.
Kevon Looney is set to begin his fifth NBA season, all with the Golden State Warriors. Looney, who has been part of two NBA Championship-winning rosters with Golden State, averaged 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in 80 regular-season contests one year ago. He helped Golden State win the Western Conference Title for the fifth consecutive season.
Ball, entering his third season in the NBA, will open the 2019-20 season with New Orleans after having spent his first two years with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ball's former UCLA teammate TJ Leaf, with the Indiana Pacers, is also entering his third NBA season. Leaf will be joined on Indiana's roster for the second straight year by former UCLA standout Aaron Holiday. Ball, Leaf and Holiday were all teammates on the Bruins' 2016-17 squad that posted a 31-5 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
Jonah Bolden made his NBA debut one year ago, competing for the Philadelphia 76ers, and is expected to begin his second season with Philadelphia this fall. In his rookie campaign, Bolden averaged 4.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 44 contests (including 10 starts).
Moses Brown, a freshman at UCLA last season, has inked a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers and could see regular-season action this fall in the NBA. Brown averaged 9.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game for the Bruins last season.
Thomas Welsh and Jaylen Hands will not open the season on NBA rosters, but both players could see action in the NBA this year. Welsh enters his first season with the Charlotte Hornets and will likely begin the year on the team's G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm (Greensboro, N.C.). Hands was a second-round NBA Draft selection last June, acquired by the Brooklyn Nets, and will likely start the season with the Long Island Nets in the G-League.
| Player | Years at UCLA | NBA Team | Years in NBA | NBA Debut |
| Kyle Anderson | 2013 - 2014 | Memphis Grizzlies | 2014 - 2019 | 11/06/2014 |
| Trevor Ariza | 2004 | Sacramento Kings | 2004 - 2019 | 11/03/2004 |
| Lonzo Ball | 2017 | New Orleans Pelicans | 2017 - 2019 | 10/19/2017 |
| Jonah Bolden | 2016 | Philadelphia 76ers | 2018 - 2019 | 10/16/2018 |
| Moses Brown | 2019 | Portland Trail Blazers | Rookie | Rookie |
| Aaron Holiday | 2016 - 2018 | Indiana Pacers | 2018 - 2019 | 10/17/2018 |
| Jrue Holiday | 2009 | New Orleans Pelicans | 2009 - 2019 | 10/30/2009 |
| Zach LaVine | 2014 | Chicago Bulls | 2014 - 2019 | 10/30/2014 |
| TJ Leaf | 2017 | Indiana Pacers | 2017 - 2019 | 10/18/2017 |
| Kevon Looney | 2015 | Golden State Warriors | 2015 - 2019 | 01/27/2016 |
| Kevin Love | 2008 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2008 - 2019 | 10/29/2008 |
| Norman Powell | 2012 - 2015 | Toronto Raptors | 2015 - 2019 | 11/01/2015 |
| Thomas Welsh | 2015 - 2018 | Denver Nuggets | 2018 - 2019 | 10/20/2018 |
| Russell Westbrook | 2007 - 2008 | Houston Rockets | 2008 - 2019 | 10/29/2008 |
