BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Picking the best-ever Indiana University player to grace the NBA is usually not much of an argument.
Most would say, for good reason, that 1981 national champion and Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas would claim the prize. He’s got the championship pedigree and the numbers to back it up.
Behind Thomas? Big men Walt Bellamy and George McGinnis are both Hall of Famers.
Past that trio? The conversation becomes more wide open.
OG Anunoby, who played at Indiana from 2015-17, isn’t usually mentioned among the all-time Hoosiers NBA greats, but perhaps he should be.
Exhibit A in Anunoby’s case would be his playoff production so far in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
Anunoby is performing at a clip only a few ex-Hoosiers have reached in the NBA Playoffs. In seven games for the New York Knicks, Anunoby is averaging 19 points and 4.7 rebounds. He’s also made 43.8% of his shots, including 39.6% from 3-point range, as well hitting at an 88% clip at the free throw line.
Anunoby’s output puts him in rarefied air among Hoosiers in the NBA playoffs.
Only four other Hoosiers have averaged more points in a playoff season than Anunoby is currently averaging in as many games played.
Thomas averaged more than 19 points four times in the NBA Playoffs in seven or more games played, with a peak of 24.1 points in 15 games played in 1987.
McGinnis averaged more than 19 points three times in seven or more games played. He peaked at a gargantuan 32.3 points per game average in 18 games for the 1975 Indiana Pacers in the ABA playoffs.
Bellamy and Victor Oladipo did it once each. Bellamy averaged 20.9 points in 10 games for the Baltimore Bullets in 1965. Oladipo averaged 22.7 points for the 2018 Pacers in seven games.
Some other players, such as Bob “Slick” Leonard, topped Anunoby’s scoring average for one playoff season, but they did it in fewer games played. Thomas’ all-time single-season scoring average is 26.5 points, but he did it in just four games.
Anunoby’s current pace puts him ahead of other ex-Hoosiers of note like Eric Gordon, Dick Van Arsdale, Randy Wittman and Mike Woodson. All of them came close to Anunoby in a single playoff season in scoring average, but can’t top him.
Anunoby’s free throw percentage is better than any single playoff season for Thomas. However, Thomas shot 47.1% from 3-point range in the Pistons’ 1990 NBA championship run, so Anunoby still has to chase that mark.
Regardless of the numbers, Anunoby is proving to be a very important player for the No. 3-seed Knicks in their playoff run.
Anunoby co-led the Knicks with 29 points in their 108-105 Game 1 overtime victory over the Boston Celtics Monday night in an Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Anunoby was 6-for-11 from 3-point range and had four rebounds and three assists. Anunoby teamed with Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson to score 11 points apiece in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Knicks wiped out a 20-point third quarter deficit to rally for a road victory at TD Garden in Boston.
Anunoby and the Knicks resume the series at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Game 2 will be broadcast on TNT.
