Whether the Boston Celtics or the Golden State Warriors capture the NBA championship later this week, the state of North Carolina will be represented on the title team for the 14th year in a row.

Last season, for example, the world champion Milwaukee Bucks had three players with North Carolina ties: former UNC forward Justin Jackson, former Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague and veteran forward P.J. Tucker, who played his college ball at Texas but represented Enloe High School in Raleigh at the prep level.

This time, the Celtics and the Warriors have only one player each with North Carolina connections, but they happen to be the best players in this NBA championship series and among the best players in the world.

Boston star Jayson Tatum, who played at Duke during the 2016-17 season, is a three-time all-star with the Celtics. The 24-year-old forward, who was the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, was selected to the All-NBA first team this season for the first time, indicating his status as one of the five best players in the best basketball league in the world.

Golden State star Steph Curry, a three-time NBA champion, eight-time All-Star and four-time first-team All-NBA selection, represents the state of North Carolina in two ways; he played for Charlotte Christian School at the prep level, then stayed in the Queen City area for three collegiate seasons at nearby Davidson. Now 34 years old, Curry was selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft.

Although UNC doesn’t have any players participating in this year’s NBA championship series, five former Tar Heels contributed to the state of North Carolina’s ongoing, 14-year NBA title streak.

Danny Green, who was a key part of UNC’s 2009 NCAA championship team, started every playoff game for the 2014 San Antonio Spurs, the 2019 Toronto Raptors and the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers as those teams captured recent NBA titles. James Michael McAdoo was a reserve for the Golden State Warriors when they won it all in 2015 and 2017.

Along with Jackson last year with the Bucks, Brendan Haywood (2011 Dallas Mavericks) and Harrison Barnes (2015 Golden State Warriors) are the Tar Heels’ other most recent NBA champions.

 

Featured image via San Francisco Chronicle/Stephen Lam

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: The Athlete and Shooter
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. LeBron James and Steph Curry are just messing with us, don’t you think? The NBA playoffs are maddening, with upsets that are nullifying the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Hair on Fire
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. I have tried to love Jayson Tatum. I really have. The former Duke one-and-doner now plays for the Boston Celtics, the pro basketball team […]
Chansky's Notebook: Barnes Is Noble
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Tar Heels are showing up in surprising ways in the NBA playoffs. Carolina and Duke have battled in recent years over which blueblood program […]
Chansky's Notebook: National 'Best' Association
The NBA playoffs are the greatest floor show on Earth. This season shows why so many college players are determined to get to the NBA regardless of what else they do on the way. There is incredible play by the best basketball players in the world, dramatic comebacks and controversy from the officials’ whistles to […]
Chansky's Notebook: Celtics City
Art Chansky dissects a new documentary series on Max called "Celtics City," chronicling the Boston Celtics' history as a franchise.
Chansky's Notebook: Finally, The Finals!
What should be a tremendous NBA Finals tips off tonight in Boston where the regular-season supreme Celtics face the surging Dallas Mavericks.
Chansky's Notebook: MJ Had His Chance
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Not even Michael Jordan could save the Charlotte Hornets franchise. The announcement that Jordan will sell his majority stake in the NBA team with […]
Chansky's Notebook: Must-See TV
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. The Denver Nuggets have never won an NBA title, until tonight. As the basketball world knows, the Nuggets will try to win their first […]
Chansky's Notebook: Tatum Saved My Day
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Leave it to a Dukie to save my bad school year. If you are a Carolina football and basketball fan, graduation Sunday marked the […]
Chansky's Notebook: The Great Man
Bill Russell, who died at 88 on Sunday, was a true giant with no jump shot. I remember as a kid rooting for the Celtics and Bill Russell, who taught a lot of people about the value of defense in basketball. I think that’s why Dean Smith’s teams resonated with me. When defensive specialist Russell […]
›