Holiday Helps Lift Boston Back to NBA Finals
June 01, 2024 | Men's Basketball
Former UCLA standout guard Jrue Holiday has helped lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals, as Boston swept a four-game series over the Indiana Pacers with an 105-102 victory in Game 4 last Monday evening.
Holiday, now in his 16th NBA season, averaged 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists in the four-game Eastern Conference Finals. A freshman at UCLA in 2008-09, Holiday has advanced to the NBA Finals for the second time in his career. He was major contributor on the Milwaukee Bucks' NBA championship team in 2021, averaging 16.7 points and 9.3 assists per game in a six-game series win over the Phoenix Suns in the July 2021.
Boston will take on the Dallas Mavericks, who entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference (Boston is the No. 1 seed in the East). The best-of-seven NBA Finals will tip off on Thursday evening in Boston (5:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 pm ET at TD Garden). Boston seeks its first NBA title since 2008, a six-game series win over the Los Angeles Lakers that year. The Celtics have won 17 NBA titles and last reached the NBA Finals in 2022.
This marks the fourth consecutive season in which UCLA's program has had at least one former player on the roster of an NBA squad playing in the NBA Finals. The Bruins have seen at least one former player win the NBA title in seven of the last eight seasons (with the 2020 NBA Finals being the exception during that time).
Last season, Peyton Watson was a part of the Denver Nuggets' first-ever NBA title during his rookie campaign. In 2022, Kevon Looney won his third NBA title as a member of the Golden State Warriors (also secured championships in 2017 and 2018). In 2021, Holiday helped lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their second NBA title in franchise history.
In all, UCLA has seen 23 former players help their organization win the NBA Finals a total of 37 times. At least one former UCLA player has led his NBA team to the NBA Finals, 70 total times. Six Bruins have guided their respective teams to an NBA title at least twice – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Jamaal Wilkes (four), Kevon Looney (three), Willie Naulls (three), Jordan Farmar (two) and Bill Walton (two).
Holiday was a first-round NBA Draft selection in 2009, chosen No. 17 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. Since being selected out of UCLA, Holiday has played in eight NBA postseasons, including 2021 (Milwaukee), 2022 (Milwaukee), 2023 (Milwaukee) and 2024 (Boston).