The list of program firsts for Gonzaga has been steadily shrinking since the late 1990’s, when the school’s fabled Cinderella run at the 1999 NCAA Tournament paved the way for three decades of success at the sport’s highest level.
There’s not much Gonzaga hasn’t done over the last 25 years and the list will get even smaller this week when the Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Indiana Pacers on Thursday (5:30 p.m., ESPN) in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Six former Gonzaga players have reached the NBA Finals since John Stockton became the first in 1997, but a former Zag hasn’t started on the game’s biggest stage since the Hall of Fame point guard did so in ‘98.
That’ll change this week when a pair of former Gonzaga players and college teammates, Andrew Nembhard of the Pacers and Chet Holmgren of the Thunder, take the floor for Thursday’s tipoff at the Paycom Center
Of the six former Zags who’ve been on Finals rosters – Stockton (Jazz, 1997, 1998), Ronny Turiaf (Lakers, 2008), Adam Morrison (Lakers, 2009, 2010), Austin Daye (Spurs, 2014) and Kelly Olynyk (Heat, 2020) – only Stockton, Turiaf and Olynyk registered minutes in the Finals. Morrison and Daye are the only former GU players with NBA championship rings, though neither logged Finals minutes.
There’s more historical significance to this year’s Finals for the Jesuit school in Spokane. Gonzaga will be the only NCAA Division I program with starters on both teams in the series and one of only two with players on both rosters. Kentucky is the other, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace representing Oklahoma City and Isaiah Jackson on Indiana.
Holmgren and Nembhard emerged from a pack of 12 former Gonzaga players who played in NBA regular-season games this year. Two others, Julian Strawther of the Denver Nuggets and Rui Hachimura of the Los Angeles Lakers logged minutes in the postseason, while the Orlando Magic’s Jalen Suggs and Memphis Grizzlies’ Brandon Clarke missed opportunities to contribute on playoff teams due to injuries.
Both former Zags in this week’s Finals series have been catalysts for their respective teams in the postseason – Holmgren as a floor-spacing rim protector for the top-seeded Thunder, Nembhard as a secondary ball-handler and defensive pest for the fourth-seeded Pacers, who overcame long odds to reach the Finals.
“I don’t think any of us care how overlooked we are, I don’t think we pay attention to what media thinks our projections are going to be,” said Nembhard, who averaged 9.8 points, 3.5 assists and 3.0 rebounds in the Eastern Conference Finals, where he was often the primary defender on New York Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson. “We have a close-knit group, we look inward and believe in ourselves and we work every day to get better.”
The presence of Holmgren and Nembhard in the Finals is a testament to where Gonzaga’s program has come over two decades and should double as a marketing/recruiting tool for the Zags as they navigate a changing college landscape driven by Name Image Likeness (NIL).
For the next two weeks, though, it also puts the program’s coaching staff in a tough bind, pulling for both players to succeed in a situation where only one can emerge with a championship trophy.
Longtime coach Mark Few recruited both to Gonzaga, luring Nembhard to Spokane in 2020 after two seasons at Florida before signing Holmgren a year later as the top-rated high school recruit in the country and top-rated recruit in school history.
The two teamed up in 2021-22, leading Gonzaga to a 28-3 regular-season record and the top overall seed at the NCAA Tournament, where the Zags eventually lost to Arkansas and Holmgren’s Oklahoma City teammate, Jaylin Williams, in the Sweet 16. Four of GU’s five starters from that team played NBA minutes this season and the bench featured forward Anton Watson, a member of the Knicks’ Eastern Conference Finalist squad, along with guard Hunter Sallis, a projected first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Nembhard assisted Holmgren 38 times during a 2021-22 season that saw GU’s point guard rank No. 15 nationally in assists per game (5.8). Holmgren was a consensus second team All-American, averaging 14.1 ppg, 9.9 rpg and 3.7 bpg while breaking Clarke’s single-season school record for blocked shots (117).
Since they were drafted in 2022 – Holmgren with the No. 2 pick and Nembhard at No. 31 – the former teammates have only met two times as NBA opponents over three seasons. Holmgren missed the entirety of his rookie season with a Lisfranc fracture and was sidelined with a pelvis fracture during the only regular-season matchup between Oklahoma City and Indiana this year.
Members of Gonzaga’s coaching staff have personal connections to this year’s Finals matchup, beyond relationships with Nembhard and Holmgren.
TNT broadcaster Ernie Johnson shared a text message Few sent Nembhard and Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton – a member of the 2024 U.S. Olympic gold-medal winning team GU’s coach was also part of – before Game 5 of the ECF.
“Don’t tiptoe into a bar fight,” Few wrote.
Assistant Stephen Gentry, who primarily works with GU’s guards, still maintains a close relationship with Nembhard and had a chance to attend one of Indiana’s games during the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Gentry also has ties to the Thunder through Holmgren and guard Alex Caruso. The GU assistant was a video coordinator at Texas A&M when the Aggies recruited Caruso, once a former ballboy for the College Station school.
The West Coast Conference is well-represented in the Finals, with Holmgren, Nembhard and former Santa Clara star Jalen Williams making up 30% of the starters in the series. Former Saint Mary’s guard Alex Ducas is also on Oklahoma City’s roster, but hasn’t appeared in the postseason.
Nembhard will not only face a college teammate, but two Canadian Oympic teammates in NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort, a defensive stalwart for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City is heavily favored to win the series with -650 odds, according to DraftKings sportsbook.
The Zags will add an NBA ring to their collection regardless of the outcome.
“In the playoffs, you get everybody’s best shot every single night, which is the way you want it to be and it’s been great to be able to learn from every single night and try to figure out how to be better for the next one,” said Holmgren, who’s averaging 16.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 2.0 bpg this postseason. “You’re also seeing the same team for two weeks, rather than playing a new team every single night so you’re really able to take a deep dive, get into things.
“It’s really like a puzzle, you’ve got to take the time to figure it our rather than, in the regular season I feel like you’re working on your own stuff and trying to build yourself throughout the whole season. Then in the playoffs, it’s taking that and also trying to kind of figure out the other team.”