Tag: Michael Finley

WATCH: Wisconsin legend Michael Finley steals beer from Luka Doncic in viral moment

WATCH: Wisconsin legend Michael Finley steals beer from Luka Doncic in viral moment

Wisconsin legend Michael Finley is the subject of a viral moment after the Dallas Mavericks’ 124-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

The win clinched the Mavericks’ trip to the NBA Finals. As one would expect, the postgame mood was celebratory.

Related: Ranking all Big Ten basketball arenas from worst to first

That includes star Luka Doncic, who the viral video shows standing outside the locker room with his father holding a beer — that until Finley walked by.

The Badger legend subtly took the beer out of Doncic’s hand before turning around and acting as if nothing happened. The reposted video on X now has more than six million views.

Finley, now Dallas’ Assistant General Manager, played 17 years in the NBA including nine with the Mavericks (1996-2005). His NBA accolades include an NBA title in 2007, two All-Star appearances and a spot on the All-Rookie First Team in 1996.

He played at Wisconsin from 1991-1995 and retired as the program’s all-time leading scorer — a mark that was later broken by Alando Tucker. Finley’s Badger career included two First-Team All-Big Ten nominations and his No. 24 jersey being retired by the program.

The former Badger is now rising the ranks in the NBA front office world. There is no backstory to his viral moment, but it occurred under pretty good circumstances for him, Doncic and the Mavericks.

Dallas will face the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals. Game 1 is scheduled for June 6 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern.

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Where do Boston Celtics alumni stack up vs. the highest-paid shooting guards in NBA history?

With two distinct epochs of contention in the modern era — the only period in league history that saw players earn enough to have a chance at making such a list — that is no coincidence

When it comes to the highest-paid shooting guards in NBA history, the Boston Celtics have had a few of them on their roster over the course of the recent history of the storied ball club.

With two distinct epochs of contention in the modern era — the only period in league history that saw players earn enough to have a chance at making such a list — that is no coincidence. But who were the best-paid 2 guards in the history of the association, and where do Celtics alumni stack up against them? Thanks to a new assessment to such an end by HoopsHype’s Dionysis Aravantinos, we know the answer to both questions.

Let’s take a look at where Boston alums rate vs. the other top-earning shooting guards in the history of the league.

Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 40

Today’s installment focuses on the 11 players who wore No. 40 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

The Boston Celtics have more retired jerseys than any other team in the NBA, but that doesn’t mean the rest of their jerseys have little history of interest tied to them.

In fact, with 17 titles to their name and decades of competitive basketball played in them, their unretired jersey numbers pack in some of the most history not hanging from the rafters of any team in the league. To that end, we have launched our accounting of that history, with every player in every jersey worn by more than one Celtics player in the storied franchise’s history accounted for.

Today’s installment focuses on the 11 players who wore No. 40 over the years as of Aug. 2023.

On this day: Marcus Smart, Michael Finley, Shaquille O’Neal born; Jayson Tatum hangs 54 points on the Nets

A trio of Celtics came into this world on this date, and Jayson Tatum went off for 54 points.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, veteran Celtics guard Marcus Osmond Smart was born in Flower Mound, Texas in 1994. The future Celtic defensive specialist would play his college ball with the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.

There, he won Big 12 Player of the Year and NCAA Second Team All-American honors in 2013 and was named a National Association of Basketball Coaches Third Team All-American the following year. He was taken sixth overall in the 2014 NBA draft and has played solely with the Celtics ever since, garnering All-Rookie Second Team honors in 2015, and All-Defensive First Team honors in 2019, 2020, and 2022, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2022 as well.

Happy birthday, Marcus!

Wisconsin Badgers basketball all-time starting five

Wisconsin men’s basketball’s all-time starting five:

The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program has been among college basketball’s most consistently successful programs during the past two decades and counting.

The people in Wisconsin have Midwestern values. They’re blue collar, hard hat, lunch pail people that appreciate an honest day’s work. They want to see a reflection of themselves on the court, and the Badgers men’s basketball program has given them exactly that.

While Wisconsin isn’t on the same tier as college basketball’s blue-blood programs, it has put together a rather impressive resume of its own:

  • National Championships: 1 (1941)
  • Final Four Appearances: 4 (1941, 2000, 2014, 2015)
  • Elite Eight Appearances: 6 (1941, 1947, 2000, 2005, 2014, 2015)
  • Sweet Sixteen Appearances: 10 (2000, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017)

Achieving this kind of success required high level coaching, but it also took a handful of extraordinary players capable of elevating the program to new heights.

That begs the question, who would make up Wisconsin basketball’s all-time starting five? Today at the BadgersWire we’re going to unpack who those players should be, and their credentials:

Two Wisconsin basketball legends are eligible for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022

Two Wisconsin legends are on the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ballot

Before a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class is voted on, a list of eligible nominees are announced. For the Class of 2022, a pair of Wisconsin basketball greats are on the ballot.

Current Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks and former Wisconsin basketball star Michael Finley is once again on the ballot. A first round pick in 1995, Finley went on to be a two-time NBA All-Star, and won the 2007 NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs. He was a Badger from 1991-95, and held Wisconsin’s all-time scoring record for 11 seasons before being passed by Alando Tucker in 2007.

Legendary Badger head coach Bo Ryan is also on the ballot. Ryan served as Wisconsin’s head coach from 2001-15, leading the Badgers to four Big Ten titles and a pair of Final Four appearances.

Finalists will be announced during NBA All-Star Weekend on February 18.

Wisconsin basketball to retire Michael Finley’s jersey during one of their biggest games of the season

The Badgers make plans to retire Michael Finley’s jersey this February

On September 24, Wisconsin basketball announced they would be adding to the retired jerseys at the Kohl Center. The Badgers will be retiring Wisconsin legend and NBA champion Michael Finley’s jersey during this upcoming season.

Finley played at Wisconsin from 1991-1995 and was a first-round pick in the 1995 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns. The Illinois native becomes the third Badger to have their jersey retired in the Kohl Center, alongside Ab Nicholas’ No. 8 and Frank Kaminsky’s No. 44.

According to Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin has made plans for when they will put Finley’s jersey up in the rafters. During the Badgers’ matchup with Michigan on Feb. 20, Wisconsin will have a halftime ceremony honoring Finley’s legacy at UW. The game is scheduled for a noon start and will be televised by CBS.

Wisconsin G Jordan Davis is changing his number in honor of a Badger legend

Jordan Davis will honor a Wisconsin basketball legend with a jersey switch

Earlier this offseason, Wisconsin basketball announced they would be retiring the jersey of Michael Finley. The Wisconsin basketball legend’s number 24 will hang in the rafters alongside Frank Kaminsky and Ab Nicholas.

Wisconsin basketball currently has a player wearing that number 24 in class of 2020 signee Jordan Davis. This morning, Davis announced he would be switching to number 2, in a move meant to honor Finley’s legacy in Madison according to UWBadgers.com senior writer Mike Lucas. 

According to Lucas’ story at UWBadgers.com, Davis originally picked 24 to honor Kobe Bryant and had not worn the number for his entire career. This morning, he posted his new number on Twitter:

As for his old number? That will hang in the rafters forever to honor one of Wisconsin’s best basketball players of all time.

What an all-time Wisconsin Badgers NBA starting five would look like

Creating an all-time NBA lineup of Wisconsin alums

While Wisconsin basketball has not always been a consistent tournament team that pumps out NBA talent, we have seen a number of Badgers succeed at the next level over the years. With this all-Wisconsin starting five we will be creating an all-time NBA starting five featuring Badger alums. The criteria I used to come to the selections was as follows. The players chosen were selected because of their NBA careers, not their Wisconsin careers, and positions were sometimes hard to fill with a player that was actually listed at that position. For each player chosen, I also chose the year that I would want them on my team (in other words, the best year of their NBA careers). So, here is our BadgersWire all-time Wisconsin NBA starting five.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

Where are they now: Michael Finley

Catching up with former Badger basketball star Michael Finley

[lawrence-newsletter][lawrence-auto-related count=1]We are taking the BadgersWire “where are they now” series to the hardwood. Here is a look at where former Badger basketball stars are in their careers.

Michael Finley is a Wisconsin basketball legend. The Illinois native was a Badger from 1991-1995, and left UW as the all-time leading scorer in Wisconsin history, a record that was eventually broken by Alando Tucker in 2007.

The 6-7 forward went on to be the 21st pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. The Badger great enjoyed a 15-year NBA career, finishing with career averages of 15.8 points per game and nearly five rebounds per contest. Best known for his time with the Dallas Mavericks where he was a two-time all-star in 2000 and 2001, Finley finally reached the NBA summit by winning the 2007 NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs. He retired with the Boston Celtics in 2010, following their NBA Finals loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

So where is the former Badger star now? Finley has excelled in a front office role with the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA team he spent nine years with in his playing days. The 2007 NBA Champion is currently the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Mavericks, and according to Sports Illustrated’s dallasbasketball.com has even been in consideration for the open Chicago Bulls GM role.

Outside of basketball, Finley has found a new passion: filmmaking. Finley was a producer of the 2013 film The Butler, and then in 2016 was an executive producer of the Nat Turner biopic The Birth of a Nation. 

Time will tell if the former Badger lands a general manager role in the NBA, but given his credentials it seems like only a matter of time.