🏀 13 Jayhawks Appear on NBA Opening Rosters
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball player Andrew Wiggins will be part of opening night in the NBA on Tuesday, Oct. 19, when Golden State plays at the Los Angeles Lakers. There are 13 Jayhawks on 2021-22 NBA opening-day rosters. The 13 KU players on NBA rosters ties for the third most among NCAA Division I schools.
All 30 NBA teams have room for 17 players. Two of those players are on two-way deals, which means a maximum of 510 players are in the NBA. Kansas has two players, Devon Dotson (Chicago Bulls) and Marcus Garrett (Miami Heat), who are two-way players.
Wiggins, who played at KU in 2013-14 and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, is in his eighth season in the league and his third with the Warriors.
Marcus and Markieff Morris are the longest active Jayhawks in the NBA. The twins played three seasons at Kansas, from 2008-09 to 2010-11, and enter their 11th season in the NBA. In 2020, Markieff became the 13th Jayhawk to win an NBA title with the Lakers and he in his first season with the Miami Heat. Marcus, who had his No. 22 KU jersey retired in 2020, is in his third season with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ben McLemore is in his first season with the Portland Trailblazers and his ninth season overall. McLemore spent two seasons at KU, as a redshirt in 2011-12 and a freshman in 2012-13, and was the seventh overall selection of the 2013 NBA Draft.
Joel Embiid is a four-time NBA All-Star who is in his sixth season of playing with the Philadelphia 76ers and his eighth season overall with the organization. Embiid, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, played at KU in 2013-14.
Kelly Oubre Jr. begins his first season with the Charlotte Hornets and is in his seventh season in the NBA. He played at Kansas in 2014-15 and was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Wayne Selden Jr., who played at KU from 2014-16, enters his fourth season in the NBA and his first with the New York Knicks. Following KU, Selden played 2016-17 with New Orleans and Memphis, 2017-18 with the Grizzlies and 2018-19 with Memphis and Chicago. Since 2019, Selden has played in the NBA G-League and with Ironi Nes Ziona in Israel where his team won the 2021 FIBA Europe Cup and he was named the Final Four MVP.
Josh Jackson, the fourth overall selection of the 2017 NBA Draft, begins his fourth year in the NBA and his second with the Detroit Pistons.
Devonte’ Graham, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Udoka Azubuike were members of Kansas’ most recent Final Four team in 2018. Entering his fourth season in the league, Graham begins his first season with the New Orleans Pelicans after a successful three-year stint at Charlotte. Mykhailiuk is also entering his fourth season and his first with the Toronto Raptors. Graham and Mykhailiuk played at KU from 2014-15 to 2017-18. Azubuike was the 27th overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft and is in his second with the Utah Jazz.
Dotson, a 2020 Consensus All-America Second Team selection who played two seasons at Kansas (2018-19 and 2019-20), begins his second season on the Chicago Bulls’ opening-day roster as a two-way player.
Garrett, who played at KU from 2018-21 and was the 2020 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, is teammates with Markieff Morris and is a two-way player for the Miami Heat entering his rookie season in the NBA.
Jayhawks on 2021-22 NBA Opening Day Rosters
Udoka Azubuike – Utah Jazz
Devon Dotson – Chicago Bulls
Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers
Marcus Garrett – Miami Heat
Devonte’ Graham – New Orleans Pelicans
Josh Jackson – Detroit Pistons
Ben McLemore – Portland Trail Blazers
Marcus Morris – Los Angeles Clippers
Markieff Morris – Miami Heat
Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk – Toronto Raptors
Kelly Oubre Jr. – Charlotte Hornets
Wayne Selden Jr. – New York Knicks
Andrew Wiggins – Golden State Warriors
