By the time Kobe Bryant donned the Lakers’ purple and gold, and logged minutes in an NBA game (November 3, 1996), he was already the fifth Main Line hoop star to play in the league.
Radnor’s Doug Kistler was the first among the Main Liners who preceded Bryant. Kistler played a career total of five games with the 1961-1962 New York Knicks. Throughout Kistler’s NBA “career” (which started on November 1, 1961, and ended December 6 of the same year), he scored a total of eight points.
Kobe was the second Lower Merion player in the NBA. Before him, Aces star, Jim Brogan appeared in 121 games, averaging 5.1 points per game during the 1981-1982 and 1982-1983 seasons with the San Diego Clippers.
Lower Merion graduate B.J. Johnson is “sort of” still an active player in the NBA. This season, he’s played four games with the Orlando Magic, which brings his career total (beginning with the 2018-2019 season) up to 21 games.
Having three alumni who played in the NBA puts Lower Merion in a tie with Episcopal and Haverford for second place, among Main Line Schools. Jerome Allen, Gerald Henderson, and Wayne Ellington played for Episcopal. Ellington is still a factor for the Lakers. Off the bench, in his 12th season (nice pension), he averages almost 22 minutes per game. Note – Reddish only Freshman Year for Haverford and then transferred to Westtown, which almost Main Line.
Sean Singletary, Ben Bentil, and Cam Reddish are Haverford School’s contribution to the NBA. Singletary’s and Bentil’s NBA days are done, but Reddish is still very much an active player.
Top honors in this category go to Friends Central. They claim four graduates who played in the NBA, including Hakim Warrick, Mustafa Shakur, Amile Jefferson – all retired – and the Atlanta Hawks’ D’Andre Hunter. When he’s healthy, Hunter averages double figures and is considered one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Unfortunately, after scoring 15 points a game for 21 games, a knee injury ended his season last year. Now Hunter is sidelined with a wrist injury.
Haverford’s Cam Reddish is currently a teammate of Hunter’s on the Hawks. This season is his third with them. He’s averaging 12.8 points per game.
Derrick Jones, who played for Arch Bishop Carrol, has been “toiling” as a pro for six seasons. He’s currently getting about 18 minutes per game with the Chicago Bulls, the fifth team he’s played for in the NBA.
After Kistler’s brief stint in the league, 21 years went by before another Main Line kid – Great Valley’s Tom Piotrowski, found his way onto the payroll of an NBA club. As was the case with Kistler’s, Piotrowski’s career was more like a cup of coffee. In his one season with the 1983-1984 Portland Trail Blazers, he played in 18 games and scored a total of 30 points.
But now another Great Valley graduate, Villanova’s Mikal Bridges, is having a real pro basketball career. This year is his fourth season with the Phoenix Suns. In 2020-2021 he averaged 13.5 points per game. While he’s no slouch on offense, Bridges is feared as a defensive player. After stopping Steph Curry cold, earlier this month – USA Today suggested Bridges might be a contender for Defensive Player of the Year.
Retired or Deceased
Amile Jefferson 2018-2019 – 2019-2020 Friends Central
Mustafa Shakur 2010-2011, 2013-2014 Friends Central
Hakim Warrick 2005-2006 – 2013-2014 Friends Central
Doug Kistler 1961-1962 Radnor
Gerald Henderson 2009-2010 – 2016-2017 Episcopal
Jerome Allen 1995-1996 – 1996-1997 Episcopal
Tom Piotrowski 1983-1984 Great Valley
Sean Singletary 2008-2009 Haverford School
Ben Bentil 2016-2017 Haverford School
Jim Brogan 1981-1982 – 1982-1983 Lower Merion
Kobe Bryant 1996-1997 – 2015-2016 Lower Merion
Active
Derrick Jones Jr. 2016-2017 Arch Bishop Carrol
Wayne Ellington 2009-2010 Episcopal
Mikal Bridges 2018-2019 Great Valley
Cam Reddish 2019-2020 Haverford School
B.J. Johnson 2018-2019 Lower Merion
De’Andre Hunter 2019-2020 Friends Central
Tom Ingelsby is overlooked. Cardinal O’Hara (1969) then drafted by the Atlanta Hawks after stellar Villanova career (1973).