A somewhat surprising streak has come to an end.
After nearly 30 years, a former Indiana University basketball player is active on a NBA Finals roster.
While OG Anunoby was a key part of the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors’ season, his ability to reach active status in these 2019 Finals had been uncertain until today.
The former Hoosier star underwent an emergency appendectomy in April and has missed Toronto’s entire playoff run. It was revealed last week that Anunoby’s appendix had ruptured and he suffered infection complications after the surgery.
The 6-foot-8 forward appeared in 67 games and started six times for the 2018-19 season. He averaged 7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 20.2 minutes per contest.
According to nba.com, the Raptors were 16-2 this season when Anunoby scored at least nine points.
The 21 year old Anunoby was taken by Toronto as the No. 23 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
A total of 11 different former Indiana players have now appeared in 16 different NBA Finals. Thus far IU players have won eight of those appearances. Here is the complete list of former Hoosier players that have appeared in the NBA Finals:
(NBA Champions in bold)
2019 – OG Anunoby (Toronto)
1990 – Isiah Thomas (Detroit)
1989 – Isiah Thomas (Detroit)
1988 – Isiah Thomas (Detroit)
1985 – Quinn Buckner (Boston)
1984 – Quinn Buckner (Boston)
1977 – George McGinnis (Philadelphia)*
1976 – Dick Van Arsdale (Phoenix)
1974 – Steve Downing (Boston)
1974 – Jon McGlocklin (Milwaukee)
1971 – Jon McGlocklin (Milwaukee)
1963 – Ron Horn (Los Angeles)
1959 – Bobby “Slick” Leonard (Minneapolis)
1955 – Dick Farley (Syracuse)
1950 – Herm Schaefer (Minneapolis)
1949 – Herm Schaefer (Minneapolis)
*McGinnis also won ABA titles with Indiana in 1972 and 1973.
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