UCLA Well-Represented on NBA's Opening Week Rosters
October 21, 2024 | Men's Basketball
The UCLA men's basketball program has 14 former players who are expected to make NBA opening-night rosters as the 2024-25 NBA season gets underway on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
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The most veteran former UCLA players in that group include Kevin Love (Miami Heat) and Russell Westbrook (Denver Nuggets), who are set to begin their 17th NBA season. The only other former UCLA standout from the decade of the 2000s is Jrue Holiday (Boston Celtics), who enters his 16th year in the NBA and his second season with Boston.
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Holiday, a 6-foot-4 guard from North Hollywood, Calif., helped lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals championship in June, just two months before he won his second Olympic gold medal with the USA Men's Basketball Olympic Team.
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Former UCLA teammates Kyle Anderson (Golden State Warriors) and Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls) will begin their 11th NBA seasons this fall. Anderson begins his first year playing with Golden State, while LaVine enters his eighth year with Chicago.
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Norman Powell (Los Angeles Clippers) teamed up with Anderson and LaVine during his junior campaign in 2013-14 and will begin his 10th NBA season and his fourth with the Clippers. Powell and the Los Angeles Clippers will be competing in the brand new Intuit Dome in nearby Inglewood, Calif., for the first season.
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Kevon Looney (Golden State Warriors) was drafted by Golden State in the summer of 2015 and will begin his ninth NBA season โ all with the Warriors. Looney has helped Golden State win three NBA Finals championships in nine seasons and will play alongside Anderson this year. Anderson was drafted out of UCLA just as then-freshman Looney was arriving in the summer of 2014.
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Entering his seventh NBA season is Aaron Holiday (Houston Rockets), the younger brother of Jrue Holiday. Aaron Holiday was a first-round draft selection of the Indiana Pacers after his junior season in 2017-18 and will begin his second year playing for Houston.
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Lonzo Ball (Chicago Bulls) returns to the hardwood after having missed the past two seasons (injured). Ball, who excelled as a first-team All-America selection at UCLA in 2016-17, was a first-round draft selection by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017 (No. 2, overall) and has played in 252 career games over five seasons.
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UCLA's program has five players expected to make NBA opening week rosters who have played at UCLA in the past three seasons. Peyton Watson (Denver Nuggets) enters his third NBA season, having been selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft by Denver, following his freshman year at UCLA. Also in that group of recent UCLA players are Johnny Juzang (Utah Jazz), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami Heat), Jaylen Clark (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Adem Bona (Philadelphia 76ers).
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Juzang, signed in the summer of 2023 as an undrafted free agent, will enter his third season playing for the Utah Jazz. Jaquez Jr., who teamed up with Juzang in 2020-21 and 2021-22 at UCLA, enters his second season with Miami. Clark missed all of last season recovering from an injury sustained in March of 2023 at UCLA and is expected to make his NBA debut this year with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Bona, who was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, was a second-round draft pick by Philadelphia in June and enters his rookie campaign this year with the 76ers.
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The NBA's opening week schedule includes two games on Tuesday, Oct. 22, followed by 10 games on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, featuring Jrue Holiday, will open their season at home against the New York Knicks this Tuesday (4:30 p.m., PT, televised on TNT). The Minnesota Timberwolves will take on the Los Angeles Lakers at Cryto.com Arena in downtown L.A. on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m., PT, on TNT). Jaylen Clark could make his NBA debut when the Timberwolves take the court on Tuesday.
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UCLA's program could have as many as 10 former players in action on Wednesday evening, with games starting as early as 4 p.m. (PT) and running until West Coast games begin at 7 p.m. (PT).
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| Name | NBA Team | Years in NBA | Years at UCLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Anderson | Golden State Warriors | 2014-24 | 2013-14 |
| Lonzo Ball | Chicago Bulls | 2017-24 | 2017 |
| Adem Bona | Philadelphia 76ers | 2023-24 | Rookie |
| Jaylen Clark | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2021-23 | 2024 |
| Aaron Holiday | Houston Rockets | 2016-18 | 2018-24 |
| Jrue Holiday | Boston Celtics | 2009-24 | 2009 |
| Jaime Jaquez Jr. | Miami Heat | 2023-24 | 2020-23 |
| Johnny Juzang | Utah Jazz | 2023-24 | 2021-22 |
| Zach LaVine | Chicago Bulls | 2014-24 | 2014 |
| Kevon Looney | Golden State Warriors | 2015-24 | 2015 |
| Kevin Love | Miami Heat | 2008-24 | 2008 |
| Norman Powell | Los Angeles Clippers | 2015-24 | 2012-15 |
| Peyton Watson | Denver Nuggets | 2022-24 | 2022 |
| Russell Westbrook | Denver Nuggets | 2008-24 | 2007-08 |
As many as 14 former UCLA players are expected to open the season on @NBA rosters this week, as the 2024-25 campaign tips off Tuesday night in Boston and Los Angeles.
โ UCLA Men's Basketball (@UCLAMBB) October 21, 2024
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