Six former UCLA men’s basketball players are set to participate in the NBA playoffs, which begin on April 17. The group includes three recent student-athletes who played for UCLA since 2022.
The players advancing to the postseason are Kyle Anderson and Jaylen Clark of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Adem Bona of the Philadelphia 76ers, Aaron Holiday of the Houston Rockets, Jrue Holiday of the Portland Trail Blazers, and Peyton Watson of the Denver Nuggets. The NBA playoffs will start with four series opening on Saturday and four more on Sunday. Each first-round matchup is a best-of-seven format.
Anderson and Clark have contributed to Minnesota’s No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and will face No. 3-seed Denver, which features Watson. Watson has recorded career highs this season with averages of 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game.
Anderson joined Minnesota through a trade later in the season and averaged 6.2 points across 43 games played this year, while Clark posted averages of 4 points and nearly two rebounds per game over his rookie campaign.
Jrue Holiday leads Portland as its starting guard for his seventeenth NBA season after averaging over sixteen points per game this year; he will play against San Antonio in the first round. His brother Aaron Holiday helped Houston secure a playoff spot as well by contributing off the bench during his eighth professional season.
Bona helped Philadelphia clinch its playoff berth with a win over Orlando in a play-in contest earlier this week after averaging nearly five points per game throughout his second NBA season.
UCLA had fourteen alumni compete during this past regular season; twelve finished on active rosters at its conclusion in mid-April. Jaime Jaquez Jr., who averaged more than fifteen points for Miami this year, and Norman Powell also participated in postseason play-ins but saw their team eliminated by Charlotte.
