Wake Forest Professional Athletes

Two Wake Forest alumni are carving out meaningful roles in the NBA's opening week — one chasing redemption in Hollywood, the other quietly anchoring a resurgent Detroit frontcourt.

LaRavia's Bounce-Back Bid Gets Real in L.A.

Jake LaRavia's first season with the Lakers was a tale of two halves: a scorching start that included back-to-back 20-point games, followed by a prolonged shooting slump that cost him minutes and momentum. Now in year two, LaRavia is leaning into familiarity — with the system, the staff, and himself — as the engine behind what he's described as a more "comfortable" approach to his role.

The early returns are a mixed bag, but the underlying numbers tell an interesting story. In the Lakers' win over the Clippers on Oct. 29, LaRavia didn't score much (2 points), but stuffed the stat sheet in other ways: 10 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks across 34 minutes — the kind of two-way utility that makes a coaching staff trust a player in crunch situations. He followed that with 10 points, a steal, and a block in 28 minutes against Golden State on Oct. 31, though the Lakers dropped that one 95–112.

His plus/minus has swung wildly — a +14 in the Jazz opener, a -11 against the Warriors — but that's the nature of small-sample early-season chaos. What's notable is that LaRavia is getting real minutes (15 to 34 per night) and showing the defensive versatility that made him attractive to L.A. in the first place. The shot will need to come around for this bounce-back narrative to fully take hold, but the foundation is there.

Collins: The Quiet Double-Double Machine in Detroit

John Collins isn't grabbing headlines in Detroit, but he's doing exactly what a veteran bench big is supposed to do: show up, rebound, and stay ready.

His Oct. 25 performance against the 76ers was the high-water mark of the week — 16 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a +17 in 33 minutes in a 106–93 Pistons win. That's a starting-caliber line from a player operating in a reserve role, which is precisely the kind of depth that contending rosters are built on.

The rest of the week was spottier. Collins logged just 4 points in his outings against the Hornets and Nets, though he hauled in 9 rebounds against Brooklyn and posted a +18 in that game on Oct. 30. Against the Hornets, he grabbed only 2 boards in 18 minutes. His worst night came in the loss to the Knicks (2 points, -12), but even then he contributed 9 boards and 3 blocks. The throughline across every game: Collins is a rebounding presence, and Detroit's frontcourt is better for having him.

The Deacon Outlook

LaRavia's trajectory hinges on his shot returning — without it, his role stays situational. Collins, meanwhile, looks like a stabilizing presence on a young Pistons team that went 3–1 in this stretch. Neither player is a star turn right now, but both are doing what Wake Forest alums tend to do: compete, contribute, and make their teams better in ways the box score doesn't always capture cleanly.

Wake Forest Alumni NBA Roundup | Oct. 18–24, 2026

Two Demon Deacons are making early-season headlines in opposite directions — one anchoring an unbeaten Detroit squad, the other watching from the bench with ice on his ankle.

John Collins Is the Piece Detroit Was Missing

Through the first week of the NBA season, no Wake Forest alum has made a louder statement than John Collins. The veteran forward saved his best for Saturday, torching the Miami Heat for 23 points in 29 minutes as the Pistons cruised to a 128-111 road win — their second victory of the young season and a sign that last year's playoff momentum may carry over.

Collins finished a blistering +15 on the night, leading all Detroit scorers while Cade Cunningham orchestrated from the perimeter with 16 points and eight assists. It was a sharp rebound from a quiet Tuesday opener against Boston — Collins managed just 6 points and a -13 in that Pistons loss — but that early stumble looks like a footnote now.

The bigger picture: Collins is entering his 10th NBA season and fourth franchise, arriving in Detroit after averaging 14 points and 5 rebounds on 55% shooting with the Clippers last year. According to Sports Illustrated, he gives Cunningham something the Pistons' star has long needed — a skilled big who can finish around the rim and keep defenses honest. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff has leaned into that pairing early, and Saturday's blowout win was the clearest evidence yet that the fit is real.

Collins was in the starting lineup for Detroit's opener against the Celtics and has locked down that role. At 29, this looks like a player determined to prove he's more than a complementary piece.

LaRavia's Ankle Puts Lakers Rotation in Flux

Jake LaRavia's early-season story is defined less by what he's done than by what nearly went wrong. The Wake Forest forward looked sharp in the Lakers' season opener — 10 points, a steal, and a +14 in 17 minutes of a 127-105 dismantling of Golden State — but he left the game with an ankle injury that immediately cast a shadow over his status.

LaRavia was ruled out for Los Angeles' second game against the Clippers, forcing coach JJ Redick to reconfigure his rotation on short notice. The silver lining: Redick has been publicly encouraged by the timeline, suggesting the injury isn't expected to cost LaRavia extended time. The exact return window remains fluid, but the tone from the Lakers' sideline has shifted from alarm to cautious optimism.

Before exiting Opening Night, LaRavia was active enough to set up one of the game's signature moments — catching a pass near halfcourt and feeding Luka Doncic for a buzzer-beating half-court three that pushed the lead to 14 at the break. It was a small play in the box score, but the kind of heady, connective basketball that earns trust in a new rotation.

The ankle will bear watching. LaRavia is still carving out his role on a star-heavy Lakers roster, and missed time early in the season is rarely harmless.

Two Wake Forest alumni are making their cases in NBA camps this preseason, with very different stakes — and very different timelines.

LaRavia's Resurrection in Lakerland

Jake LaRavia spent the offseason doing some honest self-assessment. After starting the 2025-26 season with a bang — including a 27-point outburst against the Minnesota Timberwolves — the 24-year-old forward cratered down the stretch, shooting a dismal 26.2 percent in the final two months of the regular season. He didn't sugarcoat it.

Now, heading into 2026-27, LaRavia has retooled his approach. According to the LA Times, the Wake Forest product has deliberately stopped counting his made shots during the preseason, a mindset shift aimed at breaking the mental spiral that plagued him last year. The results have been encouraging enough to put him in a genuine competition for Los Angeles's fifth starting spot.

Yahoo Sports identified LaRavia as one of four candidates — alongside Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, and Sandro Mamukelashvili — battling to slot into the Lakers' starting lineup. That's not a charity mention; that's a real fight for meaningful minutes on a contending roster. For a player who looked lost just six months ago, being in that conversation is itself a story.

The Demon Deacons' NBA success factory doesn't run on household names alone — it runs on guys like LaRavia who claw their way back.

Williams Keeps the Dream Alive in Washington

Alondes Williams isn't in a starting-spot battle. He's in a "make the roster exist" battle — and he's still fighting.

The Wizards signed the 27-year-old center to an Exhibit-10 contract, a move that places him in training camp without counting toward Washington's 15-man roster. Per Yahoo Sports, Williams has exhausted his two-way eligibility, which means the Wizards will likely use the deal to secure his G League rights rather than a path to a guaranteed NBA contract. It's the fine print of basketball survival — not glamorous, but absolutely necessary for a player at this stage.

For Williams, a Wake Forest product who has spent years grinding at the margins of the league, an Exhibit-10 with an NBA franchise is still a foothold. The Wizards, deep in a rebuild, aren't handing out charity invitations. He'll need to make noise in camp to force their hand.

The Broader Demon Deacon Footprint

LaRavia and Williams aren't the only Wake Forest names on NBA rosters this fall. John Collins is entering the season with the Detroit Pistons, where he's spoken publicly about his optimism playing alongside Jalen Duren — though a preseason dustup with Phoenix's Dillon Brooks provided some early drama. Chris Paul, meanwhile, continues his latest chapter with the Clippers after what Awful Announcing described as an "aborted retirement run" last year.

The depth of Wake Forest's NBA presence — from a Paul-level legend to a Williams-level grinder — reflects a program that keeps producing players who find ways to stick. LaRavia and Williams represent the sharpest current storylines: one fighting to ascend, one fighting to hold on. Both very much alive.

Two Wake Forest alumni are generating buzz in the opening week of NBA preseason play — one by turning over a new leaf, the other by grabbing someone by the throat.

Jake LaRavia's Summer of Reflection Is Paying Off

After a rough final stretch with the Los Angeles Lakers last season that sparked genuine uncertainty about his future with the team, 24-year-old wing Jake LaRavia spent his offseason doing something most young players resist: looking inward.

LaRavia has described the stretch as a period of serious self-examination — a "summer of reflection," in his own words — and the early preseason returns suggest it's working. The former Wake Forest standout is flashing the kind of play that earned him his roster spot in the first place, and the Lakers are taking notice. According to Heavy Sports, LaRavia is among the frontrunners to claim a starting forward spot heading into 2026-27, with the projected first-unit lineup slotting him alongside Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, Quentin Grimes, and Walker Kessler.

One complicating factor: Heavy Sports also notes that the power forward spot remains up for grabs, with new addition Sandro Mamukelashvili competing for the same role, meaning LaRavia still has something to prove. But at this stage of preseason, he's making a compelling case.

John Collins Arrives in Detroit — Loudly

If LaRavia's story is about quiet, internal growth, John Collins wrote a very different kind of opening chapter with the Detroit Pistons.

Less than five minutes into Detroit's preseason opener against the Phoenix Suns on October 5, Collins grabbed Suns forward Dillon Brooks by the throat after the two got physical in the paint. The altercation was vintage Brooks — he's built a career on getting under opponents' skin — but Collins refused to be a footnote. He grabbed back, literally, and the moment immediately went viral.

Detroit's fanbase, still riding the energy of the franchise's recent revival, ate it up. As Yahoo Sports put it, Collins managed to "endear himself to the Pistons faithful" within the first quarter of his first preseason game in a Detroit uniform. Bleacher Report confirmed Collins addressed the media after the game and reacted to the scuffle directly, showing no signs of backing down from the moment.

Collins, who played his college ball in Winston-Salem before being drafted in 2017, has bounced between franchises in recent years. Pistons fans will be hoping this early flash of toughness signals a settled, motivated veteran ready to contribute to a young core with championship aspirations.

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It's only preseason, but both LaRavia and Collins are already in the conversation — one for his upside, the other for his edge. For Wake Forest alumni watching the league, it's a good week to be a Demon Deacon.