Streak of ex-Wizards in NBA Finals continues with Knicks’ win
by Liam Griffin · The Washington TimesThe Wizards haven’t made the NBA Finals since 1979. But, for each of the last 17 years, a former Wizard has played for a championship on a new team.
The streak will continue this season, thanks to the New York Knicks’ four-game sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. New York routed Cleveland 130-93 in Monday night’s Game 4. The Knicks will face either the San Antonio Spurs or the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Finals.
Former Wizards guard Landry Shamet is along for the ride in New York. The Wichita State product spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Wizards before joining the Knicks last season. Shamet has averaged 9.3 points per game this season and scored 16 points in New York’s series-clinching victory on Monday night.
Shamet’s New York teammate, center Trey Jemison, also enjoyed a brief stint in the District. Jemison played in two games for the Wizards, appearing on the court for one total minute, in 2024.
Shamet and Jemison are the latest ex-Wizards to carry on a streak that began when then-guard Ty Lue appeared in the 2009 Finals with the Orlando Magic.
Washington’s strange stretch of representation in the Finals also included an eight-year period in which a former Wizard won the title. That streak within a streak only ended last year, when the Oklahoma City Thunder secured a championship over ex-Washingtonian Thomas Bryant and the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks’ first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 begins on June 3. The Thunder and Spurs’ series was tied at 2-2 entering Tuesday night’s Game 5 in Oklahoma City.
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