Deron Williams - Nick Anderson - Kendall Gill - Luther Head
Illinois basketball has produced many successful NBA players in its 100+ year history. This is a list of a few players to come out of the University of Illinois and play basketball in the NBA.
Williams declared for the 2005 NBA Draft following his junior year. He was selected 3rd overall by the Utah Jazz, behind Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams. He has played for the Jazz every year since he was drafted. Deron was an NBA All-Star in the 2009-2010 season.
Williams was also a part of the United States olympic basketball team that won the gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing.
Nick Anderson was born on January 20th, 1968 in Chicago, Illinois. He was a shooting guard for the Illini from 1987-1989. Nick was a part of the 1988-1989 "Flying Illini" team that went 31-5 and made it to the Final Four, where they lost to the Michigan Wolverines on a last second shot.
Anderson was drafted 11th overall in the 1989 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic, where he would play until 1999 when he was traded to the Sacramento Kings. After two years with the Kings, he was again traded, this time to the Memphis Grizzlies where he would end his career in 2002.Kendall was drafted 5th overall in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets (Now the New Orleans Hornets), where he would play until 1993. He retired in 2005 after playing for seven different teams and scoring 12,914 points in his 15-year career.
Luther was selected 24th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets, where he would play until 2009. In the last two years, he has played with three different teams - the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, and his current team, the Sacramento Kings.
