Hot Rod Hundley (right) does postgame commentary with Ron Boone after a Utah Jazz-Seattle SuperSonics game, Friday, May 5, 2000, in Salt Lake City. Hundley, a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä High and WVU graduate, is one of a handful of West Virginia natives who made his mark on the NBA.
Hot Rod Hundley (right) does postgame commentary with Ron Boone after a Utah Jazz-Seattle SuperSonics game, Friday, May 5, 2000, in Salt Lake City. Hundley, a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä High and WVU graduate, is one of a handful of West Virginia natives who made his mark on the NBA.
The National Basketball Association has had various key contributors to make it what it is today.
Those contributors have come in the likes of players, coaches, executives — sometimes even fans.
WVU basketball has left footprints in the NBA for decades now.
The most recent was made this week by former Mountaineer Joe Mazzulla, head coach of the Boston Celtics, who beat the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
Mazzulla became the fifth-youngest head coach to win the NBA Finals. He’s the youngest since the late, great Bill Russell did it at age 34 in 1968.
So, you have Mazzulla roaming the sidelines with the Celtics, Mike Gansey as the general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jonnie West as director of pro personnel for the Golden State Warriors.
That’s three former Mountaineer basketball players impacting three different NBA organizations right now.
We have also seen guys before those three being ultra-successful in the Association.
Los Angeles Laker and WVU legend Jerry West, already regarded as one of the top players in NBA history when he retired, had even more success as an executive, helping to create the “Showtime Lakers†dynasty in the 1980s.
That group of Lakers collected five NBA titles while West was in the executive office. West also got a ring for L.A. in the 1999-2000 season when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal were working together.
West went on to rack up a few more rings with the Golden State Warriors in the mid-2010s.
You also cannot forget about Princeton native Rod Thorn, general manager of the Chicago Bulls from 1978-85. Thorn was a part of the executive office that oversaw the selection of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft with the third overall pick.
Basketball fans know how Jordan’s career ended up. If not, count to six on your fingers — Jordan has a ring for each one.
You can also throw in Hot Rod Hundley, a longtime NBA broadcaster with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz.
I’ll leave you with this and truly think about how incredible this is.
Did you know there are just two high schools in the United States to produce two NBA No. 1 overall draft picks?
The first one is Montverde Academy in Florida. Do you know the other?
It’s ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä High School in West Virginia. Yes! Mark Workman and Hundley — both WVU graduates as well — attended CHS and became the No. 1 overall pick in their respected drafts. Workman was taken in 1952, and Hundley in 1957.
The game of basketball does have a hint of West Virginia in it. You just have to go out and find it.
Taylor Kennedy covers sports. He can be reached at 304-348-7935 or tkennedy@hdmediallc.com. Follow @Taylor_kennedy7 on Twitter.
