🏀 Andrew Wiggins Wins NBA Title
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins became the 14th Jayhawk to win an NBA title when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, 4-2, winning the title on Thursday.
Wiggins, who played at KU in 2013-14 and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, concludes his eighth season in the league and his third with the Warriors. The Vaughan, Ontario, native averaged 17.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists for Golden State in the 2021-22 regular season and was named an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career. Wiggins was selected No. 1 by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 and was then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he was named the 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year. In the 2022 NBA Finals against Boston, Wiggins averaged 18.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest.
While at Kansas, Wiggins was a Consensus All-America Second Team selection who was also the 2014 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and All-Big 12 First Team. He set the KU freshman single-season scoring record with 597 points and averaged a team-best 17.1 points per game. Wiggins was the second Jayhawk to be selected first in the NBA Draft, joining Danny Manning (1988).
With the addition of Wiggins, there have been 14 Jayhawks who have won 19 NBA titles during their professional careers. Before Wiggins, Markieff Morris was the most recent to win a title after doing so in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers. Wiggins becomes the fifth Jayhawk under current KU head coach Bill Self to win an NBA title. He joins Wayne Simien, Mario Chalmers, who won two titles, Brandon Rush, Sasha Kaun and Morris.
Wiggins becomes the third Jayhawk to win an NBA title with Golden State, joining Bill Bridges in 1975 and Rush in 2015.
Four Jayhawks – Clyde Lovellette, Chalmers, Rush and Kaun – have won both NCAA and NBA titles, with the last three playing under Self while at Kansas.
KU legends Wilt Chamberlain (1972), Jo Jo White (1976) and Paul Pierce (2008) were Jayhawks who were also named NBA Finals Most Valuable Players.
NBA Champion Jayhawks (*Finals Most Valuable Player)
Clyde Lovellette (1950-52 at KU)
1954 – Minneapolis Lakers
1963, 1964 – Boston Celtics
Maurice King (1955-57 at KU)
1960 – Boston Celtics
Wilt Chamberlain (1957-58 at KU)
1967 – Philadelphia 76ers
*1972 – L.A. Lakers
Jo Jo White (1966-69 at KU)
1974, *1976 – Boston Celtics
Bill Bridges (1959-61 at KU)
1975 – Golden State Warriors
Wayne Simien (2002-05 at KU)
2006 – Miami Heat
Jacque Vaughn (1994-97 at KU)
2007 – San Antonio Spurs
Paul Pierce (1996-98 at KU)
*2008 – Boston Celtics
Scot Pollard (1994-97 at KU)
2008 – Boston Celtics
Mario Chalmers (2006-08 at KU)
2012, 2013 – Miami Heat
Brandon Rush (2006-08 at KU)
2015 – Golden State Warriors
Sasha Kaun (2005-08 at KU)
2016 – Cleveland Cavaliers
Markieff Morris (2009-11 at KU)
2020 – Los Angeles Lakers
Andrew Wiggins (2014 at KU)
2022 – Golden State Warriors
