In spirit of the NBA playoffs and in anticipation of the 2025-2026 college basketball season, I wanted to highlight some of the Huskies who played alongside one another in the NBA. Whether it be sharing a backcourt or a rookie and a veteran, these UConn alums have been on the same team in one capacity or another.
Adama Sanogo and Andre Drummond: Chicago Bulls
The most recent pairing of Huskies in the NBA saw two big men team up in the Windy City. Andre Drummond played his second of two seasons in Chicago alongside Adama Sanogo, who played sparingly at the end of the season last year. Sanogo notably had a 22-point, 20 rebound game against the Washington Wizards. Drummond averaged 8.8 points and 9 rebounds per game in 79 games played. The Bulls lost in the play-in game and Drummond signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason. Drummond, the first one-and-done in UConn history, gifted Sanogo his 2023 NCAA Championship ring last season. Sanogo averaged 17.2 points per game in his last season at UConn, a season where he also won Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 2022-23.
Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb: Charlotte Hornets
The 2011 National Champion backcourt shared the backcourt together in Charlotte for four seasons. Joining the Charlotte Hornets in 2015, Jeremy Lamb teamed up with franchise cornerstone Kemba Walker in hopes of making deep playoff runs. Lamb averaged almost 12 points per game during his tenure in Charlotte, shooting 45% from the field. Walker made the All-Star game three times while playing with Lamb, including an All-NBA Third Team selection in 2019. The tandem would only make one playoff run together during their time in Buzz City. Lamb’s first year in Charlotte saw them win 48 games and earn the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets lost a thrilling seven-game series to the Miami Heat. Walker averaged 22.7 points in the series, including a 34-point performance in Charlotte’s game four victory. In their 2011 championship season at UConn, Walker earned All-American status scoring 23.5 points per game while Lamb averaged 11 points per game as a freshman starter.
A.J. Price and Emeka Okafor: Washington Wizards
Two of the best UConn players of the 2000s teamed up in Washington at the tail end of their careers. Emeka Okafor and A.J. Price dawned a Wizards uniform during the 2012-13 NBA season. Price, who averaged 13 points in his three seasons at UConn, averaged 7.7 points per game in his 57 games for the Wizards that year, which was his highest single season average for points in his six season NBA career. Okafor, who won a national championship at UConn, played in 79 games for Washington that year. The 2004 Naismith Player of the Year averaged 9.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in his lone season in D.C. The young Wizards finished 29-53 in a season that proved to be the final full season for both UConn legends.
Clifford Robinson and Richard Hamilton: Detroit Pistons
Two players from the first generation of successful Huskies teamed up with each other on the Detroit Pistons for the 2002-03 season. Clifford Robinson spent one of his two seasons with the Pistons alongside Richard Hamilton who was playing in his first of nine seasons in Detroit. Hamilton averaged almost 20 points per game on 44% from the field that season, while Robinson averaged 12 points in 81 games played. The Pistons won 50 games in the pair’s lone season together, beating the Allen Iverson-led 76ers in the conference semifinals before losing to the New Jersey Nets in the conference finals. Hamilton was a part of the 1999 National Championship team where he averaged 21.5 points and was named a First Team All-American. Robinson was a force for the Huskies, helping them win the 1988 NIT Championship. These winners set the standard in Storrs, a standard the Huskies will try to reach again in the 2025-26 season.