Which NBA Players Went to UCLA?

The UCLA Bruins have produced some of the greatest basketball players of all time. Here is a list of the UCLA Bruins who went on to have successful NBA careers.

NBA Players Who Went to UCLA

There have been many great NBA players who have come out of UCLA. Some of the most famous include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Reggie Miller. UCLA has a storied history of producing great basketball players. Let’s take a look at some of the most successful NBA players who went to UCLA.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr.; April 16, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career with the Bucks and Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. NBA coach Pat Riley and players LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal have called him the greatest basketball player of all time.

After winning 71 consecutive basketball games on his high school team in New York City, Alcindor was recruited by Jerry Norman, then assistant coach at UCLA. He played for John Wooden, the Winningest Coach in Men’s NCAA Basketball History; Alcindor led UCLA to three consecutive championships from 1967 to 1969 while winning a record three Final Fours MVPs along with having his jersey number 33 retired by both UCLA and the Milwaukee Bucks. After graduating from college in 1969, he was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks of the newly formed ABA–NBA draft. He joined Oscar Robertson and Bob Lanier on what would be one of professional basketball’s most dominating front courts ever while coaching at UCLA led Wooden to believe that “Alcindor could turn out to be not only one of history’s great players but also one of history’s great men.”[8] Following Wooden’s sudden retirement after UCLA’s tenth national championship in 1975 to focus on public service work for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life (and due largely because he did not want to work with or coach Alcindor), he was succeeded by Gene Bartow.[9][10] As a rookie during the 1965–66 season, Alcindor averaged 28 points and 14 rebounds per game; however his team finished last place out of 17 teams with only 27 wins against 55 losses.[11][12] Despite this poor record they qualified for playoffs where they defeated group leaders Detroit Pistons causing them to replace Head Coach Eddie Donovan with Dave DeBusschere.[13] The following year they drafted Bob Lanier who joined Kareem upon his return from military service leading them to a 44 win season.[14] That same year Paul Seymour became their Head Coach bringing them back into playoffs after losing Game 1 against Boston Celtics; however were again defeated causing Seymour to be replaced mid tournament by Dick Motta who coached them past Eastern Divisional Playoffs led by Alcindor’s 49 points victory against Philadelphia 76ers but ultimately lost Western Divisional Playoffs against eventual champions Baltimore Bullets despite high point output from Kareem.[15][16][17]

Bill Walton

Walton is one of the most decorated players in UCLA history. He played on John Wooden’s first two championship teams, winning national player of the year honors in 1972 and 1973. He was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player three times and is the only player ever to be so honored. He led the Bruins to an undefeated 30-0 season and a third consecutive NCAA title in 1974. He was also named College Basketball Player of the Year that season by The Sporting News and United Press International (UPI). Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reggie Miller

Reggie Miller is a retired American professional basketball player who played his entire 18-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Indiana Pacers. Miller was known for his precision three-point shooting, especially in pressure situations and most notably against the New York Knicks, for which he earned the nickname “Knick Killer”. When he retired, he held the record for most career three-point field goals made; he has since been passed by Ray Allen and Stephen Curry. A five-time All-Star selection, Miller led the league in free throw accuracy five times and won a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Miller is widely considered one of the greatest shooters of all time. He is currently an analyst for TNT’s Inside the NBA. On September 7, 2012, Miller was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Other Notable UCLA Players

UCLA has a long and storied history of sending players to the NBA.Notable names like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Reggie Miller all donned the powder blue and gold,and went on to have illustrious careers in the league. Let’s take a look at some other UCLA Bruins who made it to the NBA.

Gail Goodrich

Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA men’s Division I basketball championship game, leading UCLA to its first ever national title.

Goodrich was a two-time All-American (1964, 1965). He was also selected as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 1965 after averaging 33.7 points per game in the tournament. While at UCLA, he teamed with Lee Shaffer, Keith Erickson and Walt Hazzard to win UCLA’s first championship in 1964, and then again with Hazzard to win again 1965.

Goodrich played 11 seasons (1966–1977) in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Jazz. A five-time NBA All-Star selection, he remains the Lakers’ all-time leader in free throw percentage with an 83.5% career average. In 1996, Goodrich was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame alongside longtime college and professional teammate Jerry West.

Jamaal Wilkes

Jamaal Wilkes was a three-time All-American at UCLA and is one of the school’s all-time leading scorers. He was a member of the Bruins’ NCAA championship teams in 1972 and 1973. Wilkes went on to have a successful pro career, winning NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors in 1975 and 1976. He was named to the NBA All-Star team four times and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Kevin Love

Kevin Love is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA champion, winning in 2016 and 2020, and an Olympic gold medalist, winning in 2012. He was also a member of the gold medal-winning United States national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.