Graham Ike’s professional basketball career is all of four weeks old but the former Gonzaga standout already has a championship ring to show for it.
Ike was one of Golden State’s top producers throughout his first stint at NBA Summer League and came through with another solid performance to help the Warriors hold off former Eastern Washington/Washington State wing Cedric Coward and the Memphis Grizzlies for a 94-90 victory in Sunday’s championship game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The Warriors didn’t require Ike’s offense as much as they have in other games, but Ike still delivered with six points on 1 of 4 shooting and secured nine rebounds while delivering three assists and one block. The Gonzaga product tied teammate LJ Cryer for the team lead in plus/minus, finishing plus-12 in 34 minutes.
Coward and the Grizzlies arrived at Sunday’s game in championship form, despite dropping three games earlier this month in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.
Coward, who was drafted No. 11 overall by Memphis last summer before finishing fifth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, made contributions across the box score, tying No. 3 draft pick Cameron Boozer for the team lead in scoring with 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting and 5 of 5 from the 3-point line. Coward also totaled six rebounds and four assists while leading Memphis at plus-7 in the final box score.
Memphis had a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but Coward’s first points in the period didn’t come until the final four minutes, after Golden State had trimmed the deficit to two points. With 3 minutes, 53 seconds remaining, Coward raised up for a 3-pointer that extended the Grizzlies’ lead back out to five points.
The Warriors eventually pulled in front, thanks to seven straight points from Yaxel Lendeborg, the11th overall draft pick who was on the floor for Michigan’s 101-61 blowout of Gonzaga last November at the Players Era Festival in Vegas.
Coward drained another 3-pointer to cut the Grizzlies’ deficit to one with seconds 1 minutes, 20 seconds remaining and Ike committed an offensive foul at the other end, giving Memphis possession with 59 seconds to play.
But Boozer missed all three of his shot attempts in the final minutes and Golden State converted four free throws to seal up the victory.
Lendeborg was named the Summer League’s Most Valuable Player after posting a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double on Sunday night and scoring nine points in the fourth quarter.
After going undrafted and earning an Exhibit 10 contract from the Warriors, Ike likely improved his chances of landing a traditional NBA contract of two-way deal with his play over nine games and nine starts at the California Classic and Vegas Summer League.
The reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year averaged 9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists for Golden State, posting four double-digit scoring games and one double-double in Saturday’s semifinal against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Coward scored at least 20 points in three of his eight games at Salt Lake City Summer League and Vegas Summer League, averaging 18.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 3.0 apg for Memphis.
### Other locals…
• Former Washington State forward Efe Abogidi got the start for the Denver Nuggets in Sunday’s 96-89 consolation win over former Mt. Spokane High standout Tyson Degenhart and the Toronto Raptors. Abogidi scored 11 points and four rebounds for Denver while Degenhart, who was in Toronto’s starting lineup, finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.