Former Kentucky basketball players Tayshaun Prince and Nazr Mohammed will compete in game seven of the 2005 NBA Finals tonight in San Antonio. Prince?s Detroit Pistons and Mohammed?s San Antonio Spurs are tied with three games apiece and one team will take home the world championship tonight.
?I?m excited for Tayshaun and Nazr,? UK Coach Tubby Smith said. ?They?ve both worked very hard throughout their careers and are a credit to the University of Kentucky. We?re very proud of them and the way they represent our program. This has been a fun series to watch, especially for Wildcat fans.?
Prince, who played at Kentucky from 1999-2002, is looking for his second consecutive NBA title after playing a key role in the Piston?s run to the 2004 NBA World Championship. The UK graduate is averaging 38.8 minutes per game in the Finals against San Antonio, averaging 10.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg.
Mohammed, who won two NCAA titles in three seasons at Kentucky (1996-98), was traded to San Antonio mid-season from the Knicks. He?s started all six games of the NBA Finals and is averaging 5.7 ppg and 5.8 rpg in the series.
Should Detroit win the final game, Prince will be the second UK player to ever claim two NBA titles and back-to-back titles (Frank Ramsey claimed seven NBA titles in Boston between 1954-64). Should San Antonio claim the final victory tonight, it will mark the first time since 1976-77 (Larry Steele, Portland) and 1977-78 (Kevin Grevey, Washington) that two UK players have claimed NBA titles in consecutive seasons and the second time overall (Frank Ramsey – 1956-57 – Boston Celtics and Cliff Hagan – 1957-58 – St. Louis Hawks).
Former Kentucky Wildcats with NBA Titles
Paul Noel – 1950-51 – Rochester Royals
Jack Tingle – 1948-49 – Minneapolis Lakers
Frank Ramsey – 1956-57, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64 – Boston Celtics
Cliff Hagan – 1957-58 – St. Louis Hawks
Lou Tsioropoulos – 1956-57, 1958-59 – Boston Celtics
Pat Riley – 1971-72 – Los Angeles Lakers
Larry Steele – 1976-77 – Portland Trailblazers
Kevin Grevey – 1977-78 – Washington Bullets
Rick Robey – 1980-81 – Boston Celtics
Tayshaun Prince – 2003-04 – Detroit Pistons
