2014-15 Season Opens with 15 Bruins on NBA Rosters
LOS ANGELES - With the 2014-15 NBA season getting underway this week, UCLA has 15 players opening the year on NBA rosters.
With four additions to the NBA from last season’s team, UCLA ranks among the top five college programs in the nation with 15 former players on NBA rosters. UCLA’s program is responsible for 15 of the 62 players from Pac-12 Conference schools in the NBA.
Matt Barnes, currently playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, enters the season as the Bruins’ most veteran NBA player, having made his debut on Jan. 19, 2004. Barnes was a second round draft selection (No. 46 overall) in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.
UCLA’s other most veteran NBA players include Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Arron Afflalo and Ryan Hollins, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Darren Collison. Each of those eight Bruins have played at least seven seasons in the NBA.
The most recent addition to the NBA, from UCLA, include Zach LaVine, Jordan Adams, Kyle Anderson and Travis Wear. LaVine, Adams and Anderson were all selected in the first round of the 2014 NBA Draft. Wear signed with the New York Knicks after the 2013-14 college season, his senior year at UCLA, and made the team’s roster out of training camp.
UCLA Players on NBA Rosters (Nov. 2014)
Jordan Adams - Selected No. 22 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, Adams begins his rookie campaign in the NBA this fall. The past two seasons at UCLA, Adams averaged 16.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in per game in 69 total contests (63 starts).
Arron Afflalo - Entering his eighth NBA season, Afflalo returned to the Denver Nuggets in the offseason after having played there for three seasons (2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12). Afflalo has averaged 11.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game the previous seven NBA seasons. A standout guard at UCLA from the 2004-05 through 2006-07 seasons, Afflalo helped lead UCLA to three NCAA Touranments and two Final Four appearances (2006, 2007).
Kyle Anderson - Selected No. 30 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs, Anderson opens his rookie campaign in the NBA this fall. A 6-foot-9 product from Fairview, N.J., Anderson averaged 12.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for UCLA the past two seasons.
Trevor Ariza - After his freshman season at UCLA (2003-04), Ariza was chosen 43rd overall (second round) in the 2004 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Since then, he has averaged 9.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 10 NBA seasons. He entered the 2014-15 campaign having already played in 632 NBA contests.
Matt Barnes - Among the most veteran of UCLA’s current 15 NBA players, Barnes was selected 46th overall (second round) in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He did not break into the league until making his NBA debut Jan. 19, 2004, with the Los Angeles Clippers. Barnes has played the previous 11 seasons in the NBA, competing for the Clippers, the Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. He has averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in his prior 11 NBA seasons.
Darren Collison - Entering his sixth season in the NBA, Collison opens the 2014-15 campaign with the Sacramento Kings. He averaged 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Los Angeles Clippers last season before signing with Sacramento in the offseason. In his previous five NBA seasons, Collison has averaged 11.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game (376 total contests).
Jordan Farmar - A skilled point guard at UCLA during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, Farmar was selected No. 26 overall in the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Since then, he has spent seven of the last eight seasons in the NBA, playing for the Lakers and the New Jersey Nets. This marks his first year with the Los Angeles Clippers. Entering the 2014-15 season, Farmar has averaged 7.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Jrue Holiday - Selected No. 17 by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2009 NBA Draft, Holiday enters his sixth season in the NBA this fall. Holiday, who started all 35 games for UCLA in 2008-09 as a freshman, has averaged 13.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game in five NBA seasons. This will mark his second season playing for the New Orleans Pelicans (played for Philadelphia for four years).
Ryan Hollins - Entering his ninth season in the NBA, his first with the Sacramento Kings, Hollins was the No. 50 overall selection (second round) by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006. In his previous eight seasons in the NBA, Hollins has averaged 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. During his senior season at UCLA (2005-06), Hollins helped lead the Bruins to the championship game of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
Zach LaVine - Selected No. 14 overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, LaVine has opened his rookie season in the NBA this fall. LaVine averaged 9.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game during a strong freshman campaign at UCLA last season. Hailing from Seattle, LaVine made his debut in the NBA on Thursday, Oct. 30.
Kevin Love - After six seasons competing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love enters his first year playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014-15. The No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft (Memphis Grizzlies, prior to a trade with Minnesota), Love has averaged 19.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game in six NBA seasons. As a freshman at UCLA in 2007-08, Love helped lead the Bruins to their third consecutive NCAA Final Four appearance.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - A former three-year standout in UCLA’s frontcourt, Mbah a Moute enters his seventh year playing in the NBA. Now with the Philadelphia 76ers, Mbah a Moute has averaged 6.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game in his previous six NBA seasons. He was selected No. 37 overall (second round) in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Shabazz Muhammad - After leading the Bruins in points per game (17.9) during his freshman season in Westwood (2012-13), Muhammad was the No. 14 overall selection by the Utah Jazz (traded to Minnesota Timberwolves) in 2013. Last season, he averaged 3.9 points and 1.4 rebounds per game in 37 contests for the Timberwolves.
Travis Wear - A three-year letterwinner with the Bruins, Wear signed with the New York Knicks in the offseason after going undrafted in June 2014 following his senior season at UCLA. The 6-foot-10 forward from Huntington Beach, Calif., made his debut in the NBA on Wednesday, Oct. 29. In three seasons at UCLA, Wear averaged 9.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Russell Westbrook - Selected fourth overall in the 2008 NBA Draft, Westbrook has played all six NBA seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He has averaged 20.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game in six years. In Oklahoma City’s second game of the 2014-15 campaign, Westbrook suffered a fracture in his right hand, had surgery on Saturday and will be re-evaluated in four weeks. The three-time NBA All-Star has helped lead Oklahoma City to one Western Conference title.