Former University of Texas star P.J. Tucker (Milwaukee Bucks) will play in the 2021 NBA Finals, scheduled to begin on Tuesday, July 6 in Phoenix. This marks the 11th consecutive year that a former UT player has been on the roster of a team in the NBA Finals.
Texas is the only school in the country that has had a former player on a team roster in the NBA Finals in each of the last 11 years. Tucker will make his first appearance in the NBA Finals.
A total of 10 former University of Texas players have been on a roster of a participating team in the NBA Finals. Joining Tucker on this list is Slater Martin (seven appearances), Kevin Durant and Tristan Thompson (both with four appearances), Cory Joseph and Dexter Pittman (both with two appearances), and Avery Bradley, Daniel Gibson, Royal Ivey and Chris Mihm (each with one appearance).
Six former Longhorns - Martin, Durant, Pittman, Joseph, Thompson and Bradley – have been a part of an NBA Championship team. Martin won five titles during his Hall of Fame career, including four championships with the Minneapolis Lakers (1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954) and one with the St. Louis Hawks (1958). Pittman was inactive but with the Miami Heat's 2012 NBA Championship team, while Joseph played on the San Antonio Spurs' 2015 NBA Championship team. Thompson earned a NBA Championship ring in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Durant won back-to-back NBA Championships in 2017 and 2018 with the Golden State Warriors. Bradley was on the Los Angeles Lakers' 2020 NBA Championship team, but he did not join the Lakers in Orlando for the NBA Restart.
Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns will air on ABC at 8 p.m. Central on Tuesday, July 6.