How many Wisconsin high-school alumni have played in NBA Finals? More than you might think

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With the Indiana Pacers squaring off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, we’ll see the continuation of an unusual hot streak.

Since 2016, a Wisconsin high-school alumnus has been part of a team that played in the NBA Finals (although not always playing themselves in the Finals) every year but one. And that outlier season requires a heck of a caveat.

The one exception: The 2021 series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, and that obviously had its own intrigue for Wisconsin sports fans — not to mention University of Wisconsin alumnus Frank Kaminsky for good measure, playing for the Suns.

Last year, Stevens Point Area Senior High alumnus and former Marquette University player Sam Hauser joined the list of those winning a ring, after the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks to complete a 4-1 series win. Hauser played in 19 playoff games, averaging 14.9 minutes, 5.4 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.

Before that, Tyler Herro (2023), Kevon Looney (2022), Jordan Poole (2022), Kostas Antetokounmpo (2020) and Looney again (2016-19) played for teams that reached the Finals.

Will Tyrese Haliburton, the Oshkosh North alumnus who has been a central cog in the Pacers’ ascension to Eastern Conference champion, become the next to win a ring? The series begins June 5.

These are the Wisconsin high school alumni (meaning they played at any point in their careers) who appeared in the NBA Finals, starting with those who came away with championships:

Dick Schulz (1948 with Baltimore Bullets)

It’s before the modern concept of NBA basketball, but the Racine Park alumnus does get credit for winning a ring in 1948 with the Baltimore Bullets, beating the Philadelphia Warriors in six games for the Basketball Association of America title. He also appeared in the Finals in 1949, this time with the Washington Capitols.

Bud Grant (1950 with Minneapolis Lakers) 

Perhaps you know the Superior alumnus as the Minnesota Vikings coach who’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Perhaps you know him as one of the greatest athletes Wisconsin has ever produced, who played in both the NBA and NFL (and CFL, for that matter, where he became a Winnipeg Blue Bombers legend). In 1950, he scored 5.5 points per game as the Minneapolis Lakers defeated the Syracuse Nationals, 4-2.

Jeff Webb (1971 with Milwaukee Bucks)

Webb played at West Milwaukee High School, then Kansas State and then for one season with the Bucks, and it was a good one. In 1970-71, he played in 29 games with the NBA champion after winning a spot on the team with an open tryout, all while briefly teaching history and physical education at Racine Horlick High School and commuting back and forth.

“To be able to play with two of the greatest players that ever played (in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson), that was something I never thought of,” Webb said during the Bucks’ playoff run. “Lucius Allen was third guard, and I was the fourth guard, and he hurt his back as we were getting ready for a West Coast swing. I moved up to third guard. We proceeded to go on a 20-game winning streak, and I felt like I was contributing; I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Fred Brown and John Johnson (1979 with Seattle SuperSonics)

Johnson (from Messmer High School) scored 11.6 points with 8.4 rebounds per game in a 4-1 series win over the Washington Bullets to claim the championship, while Brown (Milwaukee Lincoln) scored 9.2 points per game. Both were first-round draft picks, with Johnson taken seventh in 1970 and Brown sixth in 1971.

They also appeared with the Sonics in the 1978 Finals, a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss to the Bullets in which a 3-2 series lead slipped away. Brown led the Sonics in scoring in that series at 19.1 points per game.

Jim Chones (1980 with Los Angeles Lakers)

Chones, the Racine St. Catherine’s legend who went on to star at Marquette University, wasn’t given much shine as a character in “Winning Time,” the HBO dramatic retelling of the 1980 Lakers team that won the NBA title and gave rise to “Showtime,” but he played just as many minutes as a player who did get a prominent role, Michael Cooper. Chones saw action in all six games, averaging 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds as the Lakers toppled the Philadelphia 76ers, 4-2. Chones, who was 30 at the time, played two more years in the NBA before going overseas.

Mike Wilks (2005 with San Antonio Spurs)

The Milwaukee King graduate wasn’t on the playoff roster with the Spurs but remained with the team throughout the 2005 run. Though he went undrafted, the Rice alumnus scrapped his way to seven NBA seasons with nine teams, wearing No. 29 to commemorate the 29th Street playground on Milwaukee’s north side where he grew up playing hoops.

Oh, and by the way, he’s now an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder and served as interim coach in 2021. He’s on the same staff as Wausau native Dave Bliss. So someone from Wisconsin is coming away from 2025 with a ring.

Caron Butler (2011 with Dallas Mavericks)

It’s a cruel twist of fate that Butler, who played at Racine Park, was injured during a game against the Bucks in Milwaukee and couldn’t compete in the postseason that season for the Mavericks, who went on to beat the Miami Heat for the crown. Butler played in one Western Conference finals but never saw playing time in the Finals.

Kevon Looney (2017-18, 2022 with Golden State Warriors) 

Looney has three rings, since he was also part of the 2016-17 Warriors, though he was injured and unavailable to play in that postseason. But in 2018, he quietly did the dirty work as the Warriors repeated, playing in all four games of the sweep over Cleveland. He played sparingly, with 39 total minutes in the series and just 10 points, but he was also on the teams that went to the Finals in 2016 and 2019, and he played 20.8 minutes per game in the latter series against Toronto.

His biggest contributions to a title came in 2022, when he started 13 playoff games and appeared in 22. He averaged 5.8 points per game in the postseason but also 7.6 rebounds per contest in 20 minutes per game as the Warriors defeated Boston, 4-2.

Kostas Antetokounmpo (2020 with Los Angeles Lakers)

Giannis Antetokounmpo got his ring with the Bucks in 2021, but the humorous family circumstance will always be that younger brother Kostas got his ring first, doing so in the “bubble” with a series win over the Heat, 4-2. Kostas, who played at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, didn’t play in the playoff run, however.

Jordan Poole (2022 with Golden State Warriors)

The alumnus of Milwaukee Rufus King was in the midst of a breakout when he scored 13.2 points per playoff game and shot 39% from three-point range as the Warriors took down Boston 4-2. Poole was still ascending that season, averaging 18.5 points per game in the regular season, and bumped that up to more than 20 the following year before getting traded to Washington.

Sam Hauser (2024 with Boston Celtics)

The Stevens Point Area Senior High star averaged 9.0 points per game during the regular season in his third year in the league, then chipped in 5.4 points per game in the playoffs in 15 minutes per contest as Boston coasted to the crown, 4-1 over Dallas. The Celtics lost just three games total over four series victories. Hauser first reached the NBA Finals in 2022 as a rookie in a loss to the Warriors.

Special mention: Wayne Kreklow (1971 with Boston Celtics)

Kreklow (a Neenah grad) played 25 games with the Celtics in 1980-81 before getting waived in January; his team went on to win the Finals 4-2 over the Houston Rockets. Kreklow went on to become a decorated head women’s volleyball coach at the University of Missouri, where he built a powerful program before retiring in 2019.

Wisconsin high-school alumni who reached finals

• Terry Porter (Milwaukee South), with Portland Trail Blazers in 1990 and 1992 (lost to Detroit Pistons, 4-1; lost to Chicago Bulls, 4-2)
• Tony Smith (Wauwatosa East), with Los Angeles Lakers in 1991 (lost to Bulls, 4-1)
• Latrell Sprewell (Milwaukee Washington), with New York Knicks in 1999 (lost to Spurs, 4-1)
• Rodney Buford (Milwaukee Vincent), with Philadelphia 76ers in 2001 (lost to Lakers, 4-1)
• Devin Harris (Wauwatosa East), with Dallas Mavericks in 2006 (lost to Heat, 4-2)
• Tyler Herro (Whitnall), with Miami Heat in 2020 and 2023 (lost to Lakers, 4-2; lost to Denver Nuggets, 4-1, and didn’t play in series)

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