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12 NBA players who were low key teammates in high school
We all know that, sadly, a lot of basketball players who dominated at a young age and find success in high school and college don’t always pan out and become busts or just simply don’t live up to their hype.
They were stars at their local high schools and had all this potential, yet sometimes become mere role players. When prospects don’t pan out in all-stars, we often forget how talented these guys actually were back in the day.
Because of all the media hype around Lonzo Ball’s success in high school and college, his father Lavar Ball has brought attention to Lonzo’s younger brothers LiAngelo and LaMelo who played together at Chino Hills High School this past season.
The two dominated their league going undefeated and finished 30-3 overall, ranking #4 in the country. Lavar Ball has frequently said that all of his boys will enter the NBA after one year in college ball and so far with Lonzo Ball being projected to go top 2 in the draft, he hasn’t been wrong yet.
So who else in the past played together in high school and would eventually end up in the NBA?
Here is a list of dudes you probably didn’t know, or forgot, were high school teammates.
Trey Burke and Jared Sullinger
Sullinger and Burke played together on Northland High School in Columbus Ohio where Jared Sullinger’s dad Satch Sullinger was the coach. Burke’s father was the assistant coach for another school but Trey elected to play for Northland because of the talent there.
In Sullinger’s senior year and Burke’s junior year (2010), the two would lead the team to an undefeated 21-0 regular season and a #1 national ranking.
Jerami Grant and Victor Oladipo
Before these two played together on OKC with Russell Westbrook, they played at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.
When Oladipo was a senior on the team, Grant was only a sophomore. Oladipo would end up playing for Indiana the next year and Grant would eventually end up at Syracuse where he would play for two years before entering the draft.
Thon Maker and Jamal Murray
Maker and Murray joined together at Orangeville Prep in Ontario and became a dynamic duo, finding huge success.
Murray went on to star for Kentucky, while Maker opted to return to play at Orangeville again even though he had previously reclassified to be in the class of 2015.
Maker would eventually prove to the NBA he graduated in 2015 but chose to play as a post graduate for Orangeville and enter the league straight out of high school.
Kyrie Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Kyrie Irving transferred to St. Patrick High School in Hillside New Jersey where he would play with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who was a top player in the Class of 2011.
Kyrie and MKG led the team to win the New Jersey Tournament of Champions their first year together.
Kevin Durant and Ty Lawson
KD played for several high schools, but in his junior year, he played at Oak Hill Academy with Ty Lawson.
KD wouldn’t stick around for his senior year as he transferred to Montrose Christian School and then committed to the University of Texas before the season started.
Ben Simmons and D’Angelo Russell
These two have only begin to scratch the surface of their potential in the NBA, I mean Ben Simmons hasn’t even played a game yet.
Simmons who is originally from Australia transferred a year after Russell did to Montverde Academy in Florida.
They formed a ridiculously successful partnership and would become back-to-back Dick’s High School National Tournament Champions in 2013 and 2014. In 2014, they would go undefeated.