Jamal Murray joins a long list of Kentucky Wildcats with NBA rings
With the Denver Nuggets’ first championship, Nuggets star Jamal Murray etched his name on the long list of former Kentucky Basketball players who won an NBA ring after Lexington. After beating the Miami Heat in five, Murray became the seventeenth Kentucky Wildcat to win the NBA championship as a player and the second of John Calipari’s crop of NBA talent out of Lexington.
Anthony Davis, Rajon Rondo, and Jodie Meeks are other recent NBA champions from the University of Kentucky. Still, no former Wildcat can match rings with Frank Ramsey, who headlines the list of Kentucky players with NBA championships.
Frank Ramsey (x7)
Boston Celtics (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
One of seven former Kentucky Wildcats in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Madisonville, Kentucky’s own Frank Ramsey won seven rings as a key contributor during the Boston Celtics’ dynasty in the 1950s and 1960s. Ramsey, a 6-3 guard, is considered the original Sixth Man because Red Auerbach brought him off the bench despite being one of the team’s best players.
Ramsey averaged 13.4 points in 623 career NBA games, following a prolific career at Kentucky under Adolph Rupp, in which the Wildcats won the 1951 NCAA championship.
Lou Tsioropoulos (x2)
Boston Celtics (1957, 1958)
Kentucky great Lou Tsioropoulos spent three seasons with the Boston Celtics and won an NBA ring in two of them as the team’s backup small forward. A 1951 NCAA champion at Kentucky, Tsioropoulos averaged eight points per game for the Celtics in 1958, his second title year as a pro.
Rajon Rondo (x2)
Boston Celtics (2008); Los Angeles Lakers (2020)
Kentucky’s only other repeat NBA champion is Rajon Rondo, a four-time NBA All-Star and one of the league’s all-time assist leaders. Rondo won his first ring as the starting point guard for the famous Boston team featuring Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Pendricks.
Then in 2020, Rondo won another with the Los Angeles Lakers in the bubble. His 105 assists in those playoffs are the most by a bench player in a single postseason since the 1971 playoffs.
Jamal Murray
Denver Nuggets (2023)
The champagne is still fresh on Jamal Murray’s Larry O’Brien trophy. He became the sixteenth former Kentucky player to win the NBA’s grand prize with Denver’s Finals win over Miami in five games. The former ‘Cat was the second-leading scorer behind the MVP, Nikola Jokic.
Anthony Davis
Los Angeles Lakers (2020)
A 2012 NCAA champion at Kentucky, Anthony Davis reached the pinnacle of the NBA in 2020 as a Los Angeles Laker.
Davis is the only player to win an NCAA championship, an NBA championship, an Olympic gold medal, and a FIBA World Cup gold medal.
Jodie Meeks
Toronto Raptors (2019)
Jodie Meeks got his ring during a brief stint with the Toronto Raptors in Meeks’ last season in the league. The former ‘Cat played in only eight regular-season games for Toronto before his veteran role off the bench in the Raptors’ championship playoff run.
Derek Anderson
Miami Heat (2006)
1996 NCAA champion Derek Anderson was traded to the Miami Heat for another former Kentucky guard, Gerald Fitch, in February 2006. Anderson was on the back end of his career; Fitch was beginning his as a rookie.
Four months later, Anderson helped the Heat upset the Dallas Mavericks in six in the NBA Finals.
Antoine Walker
Miami Heat (2006)
Antoine Walker was with Derek Anderson for championships at Kentucky and Miami in 1996 and 2006. In Miami, Walker played a starring role next to Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal, averaging the third-most points for the Heat that season. Walker had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the series-clinching win.
Nazr Mohammed
San Antonio Spurs (2005)
Another one of those 1996 NCAA champions, Nazr Mohammed, stuck around to win a second championship at Kentucky in 1998, then won NBA glory with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005, his first season in San Antonio.
Mohammed started every game of the Spurs’ playoff run alongside Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Bruce Bowen.
Tayshaun Prince
Detroit Pistons (2004)
Tayshaun Prince’s decorated basketball career included a Larry O’Brien trophy with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. A four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Prince’s reputation was built in the 2004 Finals when he drew the assignment of guarding Kobe Bryant.
Bryant was held to 11 points in the Pistons’ Game 3 win.
Rick Robey
Boston Celtics (1981)
Three years after Rick Robey won the 1978 NCAA championship with Kentucky, he lifted the NBA championship trophy with the Boston Celtics in 1981. Robey played 16 minutes off the bench for eight points per game in the 1978 NBA Finals, the Celtics’ fourteenth title.
Kevin Grevey
Washington Bullets (1978)
Two-time SEC Player of the Year Kevin Grevey was a member of the Washington Bullets’ only championship season in 1978. Grevey became the Bullets’ starting shooting guard earlier in that 1977-78 season and scored 27 points in Game 1 of the Finals. Washington beat Seattle in seven.
Larry Steele
Portland Trailblazers (1977)
Former Kentucky Wildcat Larry Steele didn’t get a shot at one under Adolph Rupp in Lexington from 1968-71 but got his championship moment as a Portland Trailblazer in 1977. A Portland draft pick and Hall of Famer, Steele averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game during the Blazers’ only championship season.
Pat Riley
Los Angeles Lakers (1972)
With the Miami Heat’s runner-up finish in 2023, Kentucky great Pat Riley finished his nineteenth appearance in the NBA Finals as a player, coach, or executive.
But only once did Riley win a ring as a player, in 1972, when he came off the bench to help Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and company win the Lakers’ sixth championship.
Dan Swartz
Boston Celtics (1963)
Owingsville, Kentucky’s Dan Swartz played in seven games and scored 19 points for Kentucky in 1951-52 before transferring to Morehead State. After an All-American career with the Eagles, Swartz played one professional season with the Boston Celtics in 1962-63, contributing 4.5 points per game to the 1963 World Champions.
Cliff Hagan
St. Louis Hawks (1958)
Two-time All-American and 1951 NCAA champion Cliff Hagan is a legend for his time as a Kentucky Wildcat. However, the Hawks think fondly of Hagan’s time in St. Louis before the relocation to Atlanta, when the Hawks were the NBA’s 1958 champs.
St. Louis defeated the mighty Boston Celtics and Bill Russell, whose draft rights were traded for Hagans and Ed Macauley on the day of the 1956 draft. Hagans played 10 seasons for St. Louis after the trade, with five All-Star seasons and the franchise’s only championship.
Paul Noel
Rochester Royals (1951)
Before becoming the mayor of Versailles, Kentucky, Paul Noel played college basketball at the University of Kentucky and professionally with the New York Knicks and Rochester Royals. Noel won the 1951 championship with the latter, helping the Royals (now known as the Sacramento Kings) win in seven games over the Knicks, his former team.
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