Ranking the NBA players born in Indiana
Indiana grows basketball players, and a dozen Hoosier-born athletes suited up across the most recent NBA season. Here is the ranked, current list of who they are, where they were born and who they play for now.
This list covers players born inside Indiana, cross-checked against each player’s birthplace on Basketball-Reference. Rosters move fast, so every team below was verified against 2025-26 sources. For the live status of any player, Basketball-Reference’s Indiana birthplace page is the source of truth.
Recently retired Hoosiers include Gordon Hayward, George Hill and Cody Zeller, who was waived by the Houston Rockets in March 2025 without appearing in a game that season and has not played since (NBA.com, 2025).
Notable Hoosiers on the fringes of the league or overseas include Romeo Langford, Devin Cannady, Malik Williams, Dylan Windler and Sean McDermott. Veteran guard Eric Gordon, of Indianapolis, finished 2025-26 waived by Memphis after a February trade from Philadelphia and entered the summer an unsigned free agent (CBS Sports, 2026).
Why Indiana keeps sending players to the NBA
Indiana takes basketball more seriously than most states, and the pipeline to the NBA starts in small-town gyms. The single-class tournament that Indiana ran until 1997 let tiny schools chase the same trophy as the biggest ones, which is how Milan, a town of barely more than a thousand people, won the 1954 state title and inspired the 1986 film Hoosiers. You can still shoot on that court at the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, the movie’s filming location, which has drawn more than 80,000 visitors from all 50 states.
That culture, often called Hoosier Hysteria, puts a basketball in a kid’s hands early and keeps the whole town watching. It is why so many of the players on this list come from towns you would not expect: Richmond, Gary, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Fishers, Greenwood. If you want the backstory on the nickname itself, we broke down what a Hoosier actually is, and you can read what it is like to visit Milan, Indiana today.
12. Dru Smith, Evansville
Going into year three, the Evansville Reitz and Evansville University product has seen minimal run but has taken advantage of the opportunities he has been given. His career averages stretched out to 36 minutes per game sitting at 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Smith has stuck as a reserve guard for the Miami Heat, productive enough off the bench to hold a roster spot (ESPN, 2026).
11. Craig Porter Jr., Terre Haute
A solid rotational piece for the Cleveland Cavaliers his rookie year averaging 5.6 points per game, the Terre Haute South and Vincennes University product has the potential for a promising future. However, the rest of the list has simply shown more flashes.
10. Cody Zeller, Washington
The last of the three Zeller brothers to play in the NBA, the Washington and IU product built one of the better pro careers in the state’s history. He was traded to Houston at the 2025 deadline and waived that March without playing, closing an 11-year run whose last on-court action came in 2023-24 (NBA.com, 2025). At his peak he averaged 11 points and seven rebounds a game with the Charlotte Hornets in 2019. He stays on this list as the most recent Hoosier to step away.
9. Blake Wesley, South Bend
Drafted by San Antonio, the Riley High School and Notre Dame product landed with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he averaged 4.8 points and 2.0 assists in 11.6 minutes across 31 games in 2025-26 (FOX Sports, 2026). The numbers are modest, but the South Bend guard keeps earning NBA minutes.
8. Mason Plumlee, Fort Wayne
A similar scenario as Zeller, the Fort Wayne native has had a long career to date. However, heading into year 12, the production is beginning to slip. Unlike Zeller, Plumlee has been a more serviceable role player in the final years of his career. The Fort Wayne native spent 2025-26 between the Charlotte Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs, where he finished the season as a veteran backup big (NBA.com, 2026).
7. Eric Gordon, Indianapolis
The eighth overall pick in 2008, heading into year 17 the North Central and Indiana University great has had a graceful decrease in production. With the Suns, Gordon had his worst season to date, which was still an impressive 11 points per game on 38% from three. One of the most underrated scorers of his era, the North Central and Indiana University product signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, was traded to Memphis in February 2026 and then waived, leaving him an unsigned free agent heading into the summer (CBS Sports, 2026).
6. Gary Harris, Fishers
The Hamilton Southeastern and Michigan State product signed a two-year deal (player option on year two) with the Milwaukee Bucks in July 2025 after five seasons in Orlando (RotoWire, 2026). At his peak Harris averaged 18 points and two steals a game; injuries have since shaped him into a veteran three-and-D guard off the bench.
5. Trayce Jackson-Davis, Greenwood
The Center Grove and Indiana University big, and the biological son of former Pacers forward Dale Davis, broke in with the Golden State Warriors before being dealt to the Toronto Raptors at the February 2026 deadline (CBS Sports, 2026). He remains a rangy young center still carving out his role.
4. Jaden Ivey, South Bend
The La Lumiere and Purdue product broke in as a 15-plus-point scorer before a fractured leg and later a knee issue slowed him. Detroit traded him to the Chicago Bulls in February 2026, where a knee injury ended his 2025-26 season early (NBA.com, 2026). Healthy, the South Bend guard is still one of the more explosive young Hoosiers in the league.
3. Michael Porter Jr., Indianapolis
One of the best pure shooters in the league and a 2023 NBA champion with Denver, Porter was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in July 2025 for Cameron Johnson. Handed a lead role, he posted career highs of 24.2 points and 7.1 rebounds a game in 2025-26 (Wikipedia, citing NBA stats, 2026). His listed birthplace is Indianapolis, though some biographies cite Columbia, Missouri, where he was raised.
2. Darius Garland, Gary
A two-time All-Star point guard out of Gary, Garland was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden in February 2026 (NBA.com, 2026). He carries career averages around 18 points and seven assists and gives the Clippers a lead ball-handler as he opens a new chapter out West.
1. Desmond Bane, Richmond
The Seton Catholic (Richmond) and TCU product is the most accomplished active Hoosier in the league. Memphis traded him to the Orlando Magic in June 2025 in a blockbuster built around four first-round picks (ESPN, 2025). Bane is a career 24-points-a-game scorer at his peak and one of the better two-way guards in the NBA, now the veteran anchor of a young Magic backcourt.
The Hoosiers who chose Indiana
Being born here is one way onto this list. Choosing to stay is another. Scot Pollard was born in Utah and raised in California, won an NBA championship with the 2008 Boston Celtics, and spent part of his career with the Indiana Pacers before making Carmel his permanent home. In 2024 he received a lifesaving heart transplant at Vanderbilt, a story ESPN’s E60 told in its documentary Heart of Pearl.
On Get Indiana’s Get IN. Podcast, Pollard gave an honest read on how the state actually watches its pro teams. “When the Colts are good, they care a lot more than when the Pacers are good. And that’s fine. That’s just the way it is here,” he said. Coming from a former Pacer who chose to raise his family in Carmel, it is the kind of insider take you only get from someone who lives it. You can hear the full conversation, including the transplant story, on the Scot Pollard episode of the Get IN. Podcast.
For more on the franchise that anchors Indiana’s place in the NBA, we sat down with Pacers Sports & Entertainment president Todd Taylor on the business behind the Pacers’ playoff run, traced the fight of the old ABA Pacers for their pensions with Michael Husain, and said goodbye to a fan favorite in our tribute to Bennedict Mathurin after his 2026 trade to the Clippers.
Player birthplaces verified against Basketball-Reference; team affiliations verified against NBA.com, ESPN, CBS Sports, FOX Sports and RotoWire, current as of the 2025-26 season. All images courtesy of Getty Images.
