Kansas Jayhawks will be participating in the 2025 NBA playoffs. Here’s the list
Three former University of Kansas men’s basketball players will begin pursuit of a second NBA championship this week as the 2025 playoffs begin.
• Former KU wing Andrew Wiggins, who won an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors during the 2021-22 season, will represent the Miami Heat in a play-in bracket game against the Chicago Bulls at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday (Central Time) on ESPN. Winner of the game at Chicago’s United Center will advance to a Friday matchup against Atlanta.
Wiggins, 30, who played at Kansas in 2013-14, has played in 40 NBA playoff games during his 11-year pro career. He averaged 19.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 17 games for the Heat. Prior to an in-season trade, he averaged 17.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in 43 games with Golden State.
• Former KU wing Christian Braun, now in his third season with the Denver Nuggets, won an NBA title with Denver in 2023. His Nuggets will play host to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs at 2:30 p.m. Central on Saturday on ESPN.
Braun, 23, played at KU from 2020-22. He was a starter on the Jayhawks’ 2022 national championship team. A starter in Denver, he has played in 31 NBA playoff games. He averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 2024-25.
• Markieff Morris, who won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2019-20 season, is on the Lakers’ roster again this postseason. L.A., led by LeBron James, will play host to Minnesota in an opening round game at 7:30 p.m. Central on Saturday (ABC).
Morris, 35, played at KU from 2009-11 and has participated in 51 NBA playoff contests in his 14 seasons in the league. Mostly a practice player this season, Morris has averaged 3.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15 games. He averaged 10.9 minutes in those games.
• Kevin McCullar, a rookie with the New York Knicks, is not expected to garner much, if any, playing time in the playoffs to cap his first year in the NBA. He is expected to suit up for the Knicks, however, during their series against Detroit. McCullar’s Knicks will play host to Detroit at 5 p.m. Saturday.
McCullar, who returned from knee surgery at midseason, played mostly for the Knicks’ G League team, the Westchester Knicks in 2024-25. He entered four NBA contests. He had four points and eight rebounds while playing 22 minutes in the Knicks’ season-finale against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
McCullar, 24, averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 13 G League games in 2024-25. That regular-season ending game between New York and Brooklyn was a reunion of sorts as McCullar took the court against his former KU teammate, Jalen Wilson. The two swapped jerseys after the game, a 113-105 Knicks win. Wilson of the Nets scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, and had four assists.
• NBA rookie Johnny Furphy’s Indiana Pacers will play host to the Milwaukee Bucks at 12 p.m., Saturday. Furphy, 20, is expected to be the Pacers’ 12th man during the postseason. During the just-completed regular season, Furphy, a one-and-done player at KU (2023-24), averaged 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds a game in 50 games. He averaged 7.6 minutes a game.
Furphy finished strong. He combined for 32 points and 15 rebounds with eight assists in the Pacers’ final two games of the regular season. He played a total of 73 minutes against Orlando and Cleveland.
• Kevin Pritchard, the starting point guard on Kansas’ 1988 NCAA national championship team, is the president of basketball operations for the Pacers. Pritchard played at KU from 1987-90.
• Milt Newton, Pritchard’s KU teammate, is the assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks. Newton spent five seasons at KU from 1985-89.
• Former Kansas assistant coach Alvin Gentry, who was at KU under head coach Larry Brown from 1986-88, is the vice president, basketball engagement for the Sacramento Kings. The Kings will meet Dallas in a play-in game at 9 p.m. Wednesday in Sacramento.
• KU 2008 national champion Darrell Arthur is a pro scout/player development coach with the Denver Nuggets. Arthur was a two-year starter at KU in 2007 and 2008.
• Kansas 2002 All-America forward Nick Collison, who played at KU from 1999-2002, is an amateur evaluation scout with the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC will open the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the West Division.
• Former KU team manager during the mid-1980s, Bill Pope is a scout with the Orlando Magic.
• Last season, former KU guard Svi Mykhailiuk, as a member of the Boston Celtics, became the 16th Jayhawk to win an NBA title. He played for Utah in 2024-25. There have been 16 Jayhawks who have won 21 NBA titles during their professional careers. Mykhailiuk became the eighth Jayhawk under head coach Bill Self to win an NBA title. He joined Wayne Simien (2006), Mario Chalmers (2012, 2013), Brandon Rush (2015), Sasha Kaun (2016), Morris (2020), Wiggins (2022) and Braun (2023).
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 10:03 AM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks will be participating in the 2025 NBA playoffs. Here’s the list."
