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Gonzaga Basketball Makes Historic Announcement Before 2025 NBA Finals
Gonzaga Basketball Makes Historic Announcement Before 2025 NBA Finals originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The 2025 NBA Finals will get underway on Thursday, June 5 between the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder from the west and the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers from the east.
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The matchup features a pair of former Gonzaga greats, with Chet Holmgren and Andrew Nembhard each starting for Oklahoma City and Indiana, respectively.
That guarantees the Gonzaga Bulldogs will have an alumni winning a championship for the first time in over a decade, when Austin Daye was with the 2013-14 champion San Antonio Spurs.
Additionally, Gonzaga is the only school with a starter on both teams in the NBA Finals, an incredible testament to this program's ability to produce quality NBA talent over the past two decades under coach Mark Few.
Gonzaga is not only the lone program with a starter on each NBA Finals team, they are one of just two programs with players on both rosters - joining the Kentucky Wildcats who are represented by Cason Wallace and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Oklahoma City and Isaiah Jackson on Indiana.
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Holmgren and Nembhard will become just the second and third Gonzaga players to start in an NBA Finals - after Hall of Famer John Stockton - and they are the sixth and seventh Zag alumni to reach the finals, joining Stockton, Ronny Turiaf, Adam Morrison, Austin Daye, and Kelly Olynyk.
Nembhard was prolific in Indiana's clinching victory over New York on Saturday, recording 14 points, eight assists, and six steals in an incredible defensive effort against Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson.
Meanwhile, Holmgren had a dominant performance in OKC's clinching win over Minnesota as well, recording 22 points with seven rebounds and three blocks on 8-13 shooting.
The duo played together at Gonzaga in the 2021-22 season, going 28-4 and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before a heartbreaking loss to Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
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Three other players from that roster played in the NBA this past season in Julian Strawther (Denver), Drew Timme (Brooklyn) and Anton Watson (New York) while Hunter Sallis is projected to be selected in the upcoming NBA draft.
Related: Ryan Nembhard Joins Top Seeded Eastern Conference Team in Latest NBA Mock Draft
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 1, 2025, where it first appeared.
