Thompson to Represent Texas Men’s Basketball in the NBA Finals
AUSTIN, Texas — Former University of Texas forward Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers) is playing in the 2015 NBA Finals. This marks the fifth consecutive year and sixth time in the last eight seasons that a former Texas Men's Basketball player has participated in the NBA Finals. (Continue reading below...)
(...Continued from above) Thompson is the eighth former University of Texas player to be on a roster of a participating team in the NBA Finals, joining Slater Martin (seven appearances), Daniel Gibson, Chris Mihm, Dexter Pittman (two appearances), Kevin Durant, Royal Ivey and Cory Joseph (two appearances).
Martin, Pittman and Joseph are the three former Longhorns to be a part of an NBA Championship team. Martin won five titles during his Hall of Fame career – 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 with the San Antonio Spurs' 2015 NBA Championship team last year.
Thompson and the Cavaliers, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, swept the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals to advance to the NBA Finals. Thompson has played in all 14 games this postseason and is averaging 9.4 points and a team-best 9.9 rebounds per game while hitting 59.3 percent from the floor in the Playoffs.
