Two more former Kentucky basketball players can now call themselves NBA champions.
Ex-Cats Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace won the 2025 NBA championship on Sunday as members of the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC defeated the Indiana Pacers 4-3 in a best-of-seven NBA Finals series. Gilgeous-Alexander was named the NBA Finals MVP.
Oklahoma City clinched the league championship with a 103-91 victory over Indiana in Game 7 on Sunday night in Oklahoma City. This is Oklahoma City’s first NBA championship. The franchise, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 29 points and 12 assists were both game highs, and he also had five rebounds and two blocked shots. Wallace contributed 10 points, three steals and two rebounds.
The championship caps a dominant 2024-25 NBA season for Gilgeous-Alexander, Wallace and their Thunder teammates. Oklahoma City went 68-14 in the regular season before going on to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies (4-0), Denver Nuggets (4-3), Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1) and Pacers (4-3) on its way to the league title.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who will turn 27 years old next month, won the NBA Most Valuable Player award this season with 71 out of a possible 100 first-place votes in the balloting. He’s the first former Kentucky basketball player to earn the NBA’s most prestigious individual honor, which is based on regular-season performance.
This was a banner season for Gilgeous-Alexander, who just completed his seventh NBA campaign. He averaged a league-best 32.7 points across 76 games played during the 2024-25 regular season. This gave Gilgeous-Alexander the NBA’s scoring title. He’s also the first former UK player to lead the league in scoring.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the first player since Steph Curry in 2015 to win the NBA’s scoring title, earn MVP honors and win a championship all in the same season.
During the postseason — and not including Sunday’s game — Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.0 points, 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals per playoff contest. He also shot more than nine free throws per playoff game.
Gilgeous-Alexander only spent the 2017-18 season at Kentucky playing for former UK coach John Calipari. During his one-and-done college campaign, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals for a Kentucky squad that went 29-11 overall, won the SEC Tournament and reached the Sweet 16 of the national postseason.
This remains the most recent time that Kentucky won the conference tournament.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
In only his second NBA season, Wallace has developed into a consistent starter for the Thunder. During the regular season, Wallace made 43 starts and averaged 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game, which all marked career bests.
This built upon a rookie season that saw Wallace play in all 82 regular-season games for Oklahoma City during the 2023-24 campaign with averages of 6.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 20.6 minutes. Wallace was an All-Rookie Second Team selection last season.
During the 2025 postseason, Wallace averaged 5.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Those stats don’t include Sunday’s championship-clinching game.
Wallace spent the 2022-23 college season at UK before being selected with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft.
In 32 games (all starts) for the Wildcats, Wallace averaged 11.7 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 34.6% from 3-point range and 44.6% from the field. That UK team, which was Calipari’s penultimate squad at Kentucky, went 22-12 overall and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Which former UK basketball players have won an NBA championship?
Gilgeous-Alexander and Wallace are the 18th and 19th former UK players, respectively, to win an NBA championship.
They are the first ex-Cats to win an NBA championship since Jamal Murray helped lead the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 league crown.
According to Big Blue History, these are the 19 former Kentucky basketball players who have now gone on to win an NBA championship.
Players are listed along with their final playing season at Kentucky and the seasons of their NBA titles. Players are listed in chronological order of their NBA championships.
▪ Paul Noel, 1942-43 at UK; 1950-51 with the Rochester Royals.
▪ Lou Tsioropoulos, 1953-54 at UK; 1956-57 and 1958-59 with the Boston Celtics.
▪ Frank Ramsey, 1953-54 at UK; 1956-57, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1961-62, 1962-63 and 1963-64 with the Boston Celtics.
▪ Cliff Hagan, 1953-54 at UK; 1957-58 with the St. Louis Hawks.
▪ Dan Swartz, 1951-52 at UK; 1962-63 with the Boston Celtics.
▪ Pat Riley, 1966-67 at UK; 1971-72 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Riley also won four NBA titles as the head coach of the Lakers in 1981-82, 1984-85, 1986-87 and 1987-88. He was the head coach of the NBA champion Miami Heat in 2005-06. Riley was the Heat’s president for the team’s championships in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
▪ Larry Steele, 1970-71 at UK; 1976-77 with the Portland Trail Blazers.
▪ Kevin Grevey, 1974-75 at UK; 1977-78 with the Washington Bullets.
▪ Rick Robey, 1977-78 at UK; 1980-81 with the Boston Celtics.
▪ Tayshaun Prince, 2001-02 at UK; 2003-04 with the Detroit Pistons.
▪ Nazr Mohammed, 1997-98 at UK; 2004-05 with the San Antonio Spurs.
▪ Antoine Walker, 1995-96 at UK; 2005-06 with the Miami Heat.
▪ Derek Anderson, 1996-97 at UK; 2005-06 with the Miami Heat.
▪ Rajon Rondo, 2005-06 at UK; 2007-08 with the Boston Celtics and 2019-20 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
▪ Jodie Meeks, 2008-09 at UK; 2018-19 with the Toronto Raptors.
▪ Anthony Davis, 2011-12 at UK; 2019-20 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
▪ Jamal Murray, 2015-16 at UK; 2022-23 with the Denver Nuggets.
▪ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2017-18 at UK; 2024-25 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
▪ Cason Wallace, 2022-23 at UK; 2024-25 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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