No matter what team wins the NBA finals this year, the Razorbacks will have a former player hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy over their heads. Two former Hogs will face off this week for the NBA champion, Daniel Gafford, with his newly acquired team, the Dallas Mavericks, and rookie Jordan Walsh, with the Boston Celtics.
Walsh is on track to be the second former Arkansas rookie to win an NBA championship in three years. In 2021, Moses Moody won a ring with the Golden State Warriors in his first season.
The Celtics have moved Walsh back and forth from the G league to the majors. However, with his opportunities (9.2 minutes a game), he’s averaged 40 percent from the field for 1.7 points a game.
Gafford, on the other hand, is a seasoned vet. Drafted in 2019 to the Chicago Bulls, Gafford has 321 games under his belt for 8.7 points, 5.4 boards, and 1.5 blocks a game. This trip to the NBA finals is his first after five years in the league and his second to the playoffs.
Since his trade from Washington to Dallas, Gafford has helped the Mavs go from a 29-23 regular season record to 50-32 and righted the ship toward the finals. His presence in the paint has cleared room for stars like Luca Doncic and Kyrie Irving to shine.
The last time the Mavs played a team with former Razorbacks, they knocked off the No. 1 seed in the west, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Hopefully, there’s a little bit less hog-on-hog violence
— Rusty Newman (@rnewman64) May 14, 2024
Game one of the NBA finals starts on Thursday, June 6, at 7:00 p.m. CST. You can catch the game on ABC.