A small number of Syracuse basketball players found success in the NBA, like Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly and Dave Bing. An even shorter list actually made it to the NBA Finals, and the latest just broke a 70-year-old scoring record.
Oshae Brissett scored 7 points for the Boston Celtics against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, the most points ever by a former SU basketball player in an NBA Finals game. He played the final 15 minutes of Game 4 after the Mavs blew out the Celtics, finishing with 7 points (including a 3-pointer and two free throws), 3 rebounds and a block.
It was the highest single-game scoring performance by a Syracuse University alumnus in the NBA Finals since Bill Gabor scored 4 points in Game 4 of the 1954 NBA Finals for the Syracuse Nationals, according to basketball-reference.com. Gabor averaged 3.3 points per game over four appearances in the 7-game series, which the Nats lost to the Minneapolis Lakers.
Last week, Brissett played nearly 3 minutes in Game 1, becoming the first former Syracuse basketball player to see action in the NBA Finals in 44 years. Marty Byrnes, who played at SU from 1974-1978, was on the floor for one minute in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals as his Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers for the NBA championship.
Since Byrnes, Dion Waiters is the only other ex-Orangeman to be part of a team’s roster in the NBA Finals. However, Waiters did not see any playing time in the finals when his L.A. Lakers won the 2020 title.
Along with Brissett, Byrnes and Gabor, Dennis Duval is the only other former Syracuse basketball player to play in the NBA Finals. Duval, who went on to become the city of Syracuse’s police chief, scored one basket in Game 3 of the 1975 finals for the Washington Bullets before losing the series to the Golden State Warriors.
Brissett could soon get his own NBA championship ring. The Celtics lost Friday, 122-84, but still hold a 3-1 series lead in the NBA Finals over Dallas. If Boston wins, Brissett would be the third former Syracuse basketball player to win an NBA title.
Brissett is a backup forward behind All-Stars like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, averaging 6 minutes, 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds over nine games in the 2024 postseason. “Brissy” was a bigger part of Boston’s rotation during the regular season, averaging 11.5 minutes over 55 games.
The 25-year-old hoops player played two seasons at Syracuse University before going undrafted in 2019 and signing a two-year deal with his hometown Toronto Raptors. Brissett was waived by the Raptors after his rookie year, but then found a role with the Indiana Pacers, appearing in more than 150 games for Indiana over three seasons. He signed a two-year contract to join the Celtics last summer.
“The vibe around Boston is different,” Brissett told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in August. “The banners are everywhere. There’s posters. There’s statues. I just hope that I’m able to… help win a (championship), add another banner for the team. That’s all I want to do. That’s the only thing that’s been on my mind since I signed that contract.”
The Celtics and Mavs will meet again in Game 5 of the NBA Finals Monday, June 17, at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ABC; fans can also watch a live stream through free trials of fuboTV or DirecTV.