Arizona well represented at the NBA Finals for the 12th straight year

In his first season in the NBA, San Antonio Spurs reserve forward Carter Bryant is about to play in the NBA Finals. The Spurs took down the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals.  

If history repeats itself, the rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals — the Spurs against the New York Knicks — will have Bryant celebrating a championship, becoming the 12th Wildcat to win an NBA title. 

With New York representing the Eastern Conference, Knicks assistant coach Riccardo Fois, who coached at Arizona under Tommy Lloyd for three seasons, is another UA connection in the NBA Finals.  

The 12-year streak of Arizona's presence in the NBA Finals started in 2015, when the Golden State Warriors faced the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors had former UA forward Andre Iguodala, who was the last Lute Olson-era Wildcat to play in the NBA, head coach Steve Kerr and assistant coach Bruce Fraser, who played for Olson in the 1980s.

Cleveland had former Wildcat Bret Brielmaier as an assistant coach and later added former UA forwards Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye as players. Jefferson will serve as a color analyst for ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals again this season.

The Warriors played in five straight NBA Finals — six total between 2015-2022.

Other Wildcats to play in the NBA Finals during that stretch include Solomon Hill (Miami Heat), Deandre Ayton (Phoenix Suns), Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets), Zeke Nnaji (Denver Nuggets), Brandon Williams (Dallas Mavericks), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers) and T.J. McConnell (Indiana Pacers). 

Miles Simon, who led the Wildcats to the 1997 national championship, and Quinton Crawford were assistant coaches for the Lakers during their run to the “bubble” championship in 2020.

Between players, coaches and broadcasters, the Wildcats have been well-represented in the NBA Finals over the years. Here's a look at every ex-Wildcat who has won an NBA championship: 

Jud Buechler

Number of championships: 3

Team: Chicago Bulls (1996-98)

What he did: Buechler was a reserve forward during the second three-peat of the Michael Jordan era in Chicago.

Steve Kerr

Number of championships: 5

Teams: Chicago Bulls (1996-98), San Antonio Spurs (1999, 2003)

What he did: Kerr etched his name in NBA Finals lore in 1997, knocking down a midrange shot at the top of the key to beat the Utah Jazz and seal the second title of Chicago’s second three-peat in the 1990s.

Joked Kerr, to thousands of fans in Chicago during the Bulls’ championship celebration: “When we called timeout with 25 seconds to go, we went into the huddle and Phil (Jackson) told Michael, ‘Michael, I want you to take the last shot.’ Michael told Phil, ‘You know, Phil, I don’t really feel comfortable in these situations, so maybe we ought to go in another direction. Why don’t we go to Steve?’ So I thought to myself, ‘Well, I guess I gotta bail Michael out again.’ The shot went in, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”

After his time with the Bulls, Kerr was a reserve guard for the Spurs under legendary head coach Gregg Popovich. Kerr has nine total NBA championships — four as head coach of the Warriors.

Sean Elliott

Number of championships: 1

Team: San Antonio Spurs (1999)

What he did: The Tucson native averaged 11.2 points and 4.3 rebounds in 50 games during a shortened, lockout-influenced season. San Antonio — led by the formidable frontcourt of Tim Duncan and David Robinson — beat the Knicks in five games.

Bison Dele

Number of championships: 1

Team: Chicago Bulls (1997)

What he did: Formerly known as Brian Williams, the former All-Pac-10 big man posted 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game off the bench for Chicago. Dele then played two more seasons with the Detroit Pistons.

Luke Walton

Number of championships: 2

Team: Los Angeles Lakers (2009, '10)

What he did: Walton was drafted by the Lakers late in 2003 and joined the tail end of the L.A. dynasty led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. By the time the Lakers returned to contending for championships in 2008, the former Arizona point forward had a minimal role.

Jason Terry

Number of championships: 1

Team: Dallas Mavericks (2011)

What he did: The former NBA Sixth Man of the Year averaged 18 points and shot 49.4% from the field — 39.3% from 3-point range — against a LeBron James-led Miami Heat team. Terry had 21 points and six assists in Game 5 against Miami, becoming the first bench player in the NBA Finals since Michael Cooper in 1987 to record at least 20 points and five assists as a reserve. In the series-clinching game, Terry had a game-high 27 points in a 105-95 win over the Heat in Miami.

Andre Iguodala

Number of championships: 4

Team: Golden State Warriors (2015, '17, '18, '22)

What he did: Despite LeBron James dominating the NBA Finals in 2015 — averaging 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in six games — Iguodala was named NBA Finals MVP, the only ex-Wildcat to accomplish that feat, for shouldering the responsibility of guarding the then-Cavaliers star.

Richard Jefferson

Number of championships: 1

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (2016)

What he did: After falling short of winning an NBA championship with the New Jersey Nets, Jefferson won his only championship with the Cavaliers, averaging 5.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in seven games. Cleveland overcame a 3-1 series deficit to dethrone Golden State, which set an NBA record for most wins in a regular season (73).

Channing Frye

Number of championships: 1

Team: Cleveland Cavaliers (2016)

What he did: Like his former UA teammate Jefferson, Frye was a contributor off the bench for the Cavs’ frontcourt. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Zeke Nnaji

Number of championships: 1

Team: Denver Nuggets (2023)

What he did: The former first-round draft pick didn’t play in the NBA Finals, but he did appear in four games, including three in the second round against the Phoenix Suns. In 2023, Nnaji signed a four-year, $32 million extension with the Nuggets.

Aaron Gordon

Number of championships: 1

Team: Denver Nuggets (2023)

What he did: A decade after signing with the UA as a five-star small forward, the high-flying Gordon won his first-ever title as the frontcourt counterpart to three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. Gordon’s 14 points per game in the NBA Finals marked a career-high for him in the playoffs. Gordon dropped 27 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field, to go with seven rebounds and six assists in Game 4. Gordon is the last ex-Wildcat to win an NBA championship.