Lots of UK fingerprints on this NBA Finals...

[MdWIldcat55]

Of course there's Jamal Murray for the Nuggets. And Bam Adebayo for the Heat. It also looks like Tyler Herro will play at some point in the Finals.

Then you've got Pat Riley, the architect of the Miami franchise and team president.

And of course Dan Issel was a great star for the Nuggets and the face of the franchise for decades. I have a couple friends from the Denver area and Issel is still a beloved figure for people who grew up Nuggets fans.

I'm not a huge NBA fan, but this is the Finals that will have me deeply engaged. The Kentucky connections stretch from Rupp's Runts through the greatest Wildcat scorer of all time to three guys who are part of the great Kentucky teams in the 2010-2020 decade.

 

[UK90]

And of course Dan Issel was the first great star for the Nuggets

David Thompson would strongly beg to differ.

 

[gbl97]

Don't forget the UK connection with the Heat's Zeller and Oladipo. Their team was eliminated by UK on the way to our 8th championship.

 

[TM2013]

Love it. Can just sit back and enjoy the Finals and be happy with either team winning it all this time.

 

[Smashcat]

Bret Bearup was working as a consultant to the Nuggets when he died. Too bad he's not around to see them as the favorites in the NBA finals.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

This is truly a no villain finals.

Very rare for me. So happy Boston choked.

 

[mcwildcats04]

Love it. Can just sit back and enjoy the Finals and be happy with either team winning it all this time.

Yep, exactly how I feel. Love both teams. Nice knowing at least one UK guy will get a ring. I kind of lean toward pulling for the Nuggets since they've never won a title but I've really come to love this Heat team so going to be hard to root against them. Just going to sit back and enjoy it I guess.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

Yep, Cow has his fingers all over this one.

Hard for him to choose who to support.

 

[cat888]

The elite 8 was filled with former UK players.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

Riley is the most important former Kentucky player in terms of his impact on the league in the history of the NBA, I'd say.

And Issel is probably the greatest former Kentucky star as a player in NBA/ABA history -- at least as of now -- still 12th on the all-time combined NBA/ABA scoring list, and second all-time on the ABA list (behind Louie Dampier!)

To have the franchises for which they are probably the most important historic figures in the Finals is pretty cool.

 

[BradleyCrawford08]

Nice to see a finals with two good, well- constructed rosters and not two generally uninteresting super teams that just roll through everyone like expected. Don’t watch much NBA but I will definitely look into this especially with the UK connections on both teams.

 

[jameslee32]

ACC/dook trolls gotta love this thread.

 

[J_Dee]

ACC/dook trolls gotta love this thread.

Denver has a significant number of SCC and ACC players on its roster. At a glance:

Jamal Murray
DeAndre Jordan (Texas A&M, though he played when the Aggies were in the Big 12)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Georgia)
Michael Porter Jr. (Missouri)
Bruce Brown (Miami of Florida)
Reggie Jackson (Boston College)
Ish Smith (Wake Forest)
Jack White (Duke)

So maybe UK fans and Duke fans can unite on this one.