The NBA resumed regular season action on Tuesday evening, and as always we will be tracking former Hoosiers in the league and providing updates.
Six former IU basketball players are on active rosters to begin the 2021-22 season.
Four of them will open their seasons tonight, while two are currently sidelined with injuries that relate back to last season.
Here is the latest (all stats from 2020-21 season).
OG Anunoby – Toronto
OG Anunoby has had a solid career arc, and that is expected to continue in 2021-22.
Anunoby enters his fifth season in the NBA, all with the Toronto Raptors. The versatile forward is coming off what was statistically his best professional season where he set new career highs in points per game (15.2), rebounds per game (5.5), and assists per game (2.2). He also started in all 43 games that he played in during the 2020-2021 season. Anunoby is expected to be a focal point of the scheme in Toronto this year.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 43/43
MPG – 33.3 (Career High)
Points – 15.9 (Career High)
Rebounds – 5.5 (Career High)
Assists – 2.2 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.7 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 1.5 (Career High)
FG% – .480
3FG% – .398 (Career High)
FT% – .784 (Career High)
Thomas Bryant – Washington
Thomas Bryant will look to pick up where he left off before a season ending knee injury. He is expected to return in December.
Bryant will begin his fifth professional season and his fourth with the Wizards. Bryant was off to the best start of his career in the 2020-2021 season, averaging career highs of 14.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game in 10 games while serving as a routine starter before the injury.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 10/10
MPG – 27.1 (Career High)
Points – 14.3 (Career High)
Rebounds – 6.1
Assists – 1.5
Blocks – 0.8
Steals – 0.4
FG% – .648 (Career High)
3FG% – .429 (Career High)
FT% – .667
Eric Gordon – Houston
Eric Gordon is the longest tenured former Hoosier in the NBA.
This will be Gordon’s 14th season in the NBA and fourth with the Rockets. The former No. 7 overall pick enters the year as a career 17.8 point per game scorer and will be a key veteran presence for a young Rockets team. He is 28th in NBA history with 1,622 3-pointers made for his career.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 27/13
MPG – 29.2
Points – 17.8
Rebounds – 2.1
Assists – 2.6
Blocks – 0.5 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.5
FG% – .433
3FG% – .329
FT% – .825
Romeo Langford – Boston
Langford starts his third season as a pro with the Celtics. Through 50 career games, he has averaged 2.7 points while shooting 35.3 percent from the field. Langford is expected to take a major step forward this season, and he showed flashes of that potential at the end of last season and in the playoffs. The shooting guard is fully healthy entering the season after missing most of his first two years with injuries.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 18/4
MPG – 15.7 (Career High)
Points – 3.1 (Career High)
Rebounds – 1.9 (Career High)
Assists – 0.7 (Career High)
Blocks – 0.3 (Ties Career High)
Steals – 0.3 (Ties Career High)
FG% – .356 (Career High)
3FG% – .278 (Career High)
FT% – .750 (Career High)
Victor Oladipo – Miami
The 2021-2022 season will be Oladipo’s ninth as an NBA player and his second with the Heat. Oladipo played 33 games last season while averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per contest before suffering a torn right quad, the second time in two years he had that injury. Oladipo is not expected to be ready to play by the start of the season, with a return likely in January.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 33/33
MPG – 32.7
Points – 19.8
Rebounds – 4.8
Assists – 4.6
Blocks – 0.4
Steals – 1.4
FG% – .408
3FG% – .326
FT% – .754
Cody Zeller – Portland
This is Zeller’s ninth year in the NBA and his first with the Trail Blazers, who he signed with as a free agent during the offseason. In eight years of playing with the Charlotte Hornets, Zeller was a career 8.7 points per game scorer with a 51.8% field goal percentage. He also averaged six rebounds per game. Zeller will open the season wearing a protective face mask after suffering a broken nose during the preseason.
2020-21 Stats:
Games/Games Started – 48/21
MPG – 20.9
Points – 9.4
Rebounds – 6.8
Assists – 1.8
Blocks – 0.4
Steals – 0.6
FG% – .559
3FG% – .143
FT% – .714
Keep an eye on:
Juwan Morgan was signed by the Boston Celtics during the offseason after spending two years with the Utah Jazz. He is currently with the Celtics’ G-League affiliate the Maine Celtics.
Coming soon:
We’ll have an update on former IU basketball players playing international professional basketball.
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