More than half of the 30 NBA rosters — 17, to be exact — contain at least one former Duke basketball player. And the 25 Blue Devils in the league, second only to Kentucky's 27, currently account for roughly five percent of the NBA's 498 players.
In other words, "The Brotherhood" could all but fill two rosters on its own.
The 25 NBA Blue Devils on opening-night rosters sit one shy of the program record in 2020.
Although several Duke basketball products from the past decade are, at least for now, no longer with an NBA team — namely, Rodney Hood, Jabari Parker, and Frank Jackson — the league saw an influx of NBA Blue Devils in the offseason.
Duke set a program record at the 2022 NBA Draft with five players hearing their names: Paolo Banchero at No. 1, Mark Williams at No. 15, AJ Griffin at No. 16, Wendell Moore Jr. at No. 26, and Trevor Keels (now on a two-way contract) at No. 42.
Plus, former four-year Duke forward Jack White earned a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets after playing his first two seasons as a pro back home in Australia.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was the only Blue Devil who played on Tuesday during the NBA's two-game opening night. Of course, it's worth noting that Tatum's 35 points in the Celtic's 126-117 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers tied teammate Jaylen Brown and the 76ers' James Harden for the most points in either game.
Wednesday night's slate features 12 games. It should be no surprise that all but two of those games include at least one team with at least one Blue Devil on the roster.
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