Former IU basketball’s Thomas Bryant wins 2023 NBA title with Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals on Monday, taking the series four games to one.
This means former IU basketball star Thomas Bryant is a 2023 NBA champion.
Bryant, a highly-touted recruit in high school, played for Tom Crean at IU. In Bryant’s first season at IU, the Hoosiers won a Big Ten regular season championship and he was named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team. IU ultimately lost in the Sweet Sixteen that season. Following Bryant’s sophomore season, in which IU didn’t make the NCAA tournament, Crean was fired. In his two seasons with the Hoosiers, Bryant averaged 12.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
Bryant was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 42nd overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft but was quickly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. Appearing in six NBA seasons, Bryant has played for the Lakers (two separate stretches), the Washington Wizards and the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers signed Bryant in July 2022, leading to his second stint with the franchise. In February 2023, Bryant was traded to the Denver Nuggets. Bryant played in 18 regular season games for the Nuggets, averaging 4.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game during that stretch. He made just one appearance during the 2023 NBA Playoffs — briefly during Game 3 of the Finals.
Two former Hoosiers were on the losing side of the matchup in the 2023 NBA Finals. Cody Zeller, who played two seasons at IU, appeared in all five games of the 2023 NBA Finals for the Miami Heat. Victor Oladipo, who was teammates with Zeller at IU, suffered a season-ending injury in the first round against the Milwaukee Bucks, so he wasn’t available for much of the Heat’s run in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former Hoosier Thomas Bryant wins 2023 NBA title with Nuggets
