Former WVU Basketball Stars to Meet in NBA Playoffs

Former WVU basketball stars Deuce McBride and Joe Mazulla will meet in the second round of the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals, beginning on May 4.

Mazulla’s second-seeded Celtics, the reigning NBA champions, breezed past the No. 7 seed Orlando Magic in a 4-1 first-round series victory. In just his third season as Boston’s head coach, Mazulla, who starred for the Mountaineers from 2006-11, has a 182-64 record with two trips to the conference finals and last year’s NBA championship victory. The Celtics are 31-13 in the playoffs under Mazulla.

McBride’s New York Knicks clinched their opening-round series with a 116-113 victory over Detroit Thursday evening, clinching the series 4-2. McBride, who played in Morgantown from 2019-21, scored just three points in the series-clinching game and averaged 6.4 points per game in throughout the series against the Pistons.

McBride, a former second-round pick of the Knicks, averaged a career-high 9.5 points this year, his fourth season in the NBA.

let’s keep it rollin ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/tfeNA5y56T

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 2, 2025

This second-round series will be the first playoff meeting between the former West Virginia standouts.

Find more coverage of WVU basketball greats Joe Mazzulla and Miles McBride at WV Sports Now.

Editor’s note: Da’Sean Butler is also an assistant on Mazzulla’s staff with the Celtics.