Former Syracuse forward Oshae Brissett has become the fourth Orange player ever to be a part of an NBA championship team. Brissett and the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in the NBA Finals last night, securing a 4-1 series win at TD Garden in Boston. Brissett joins Billy Gabor, Marty Byrnes, and Dion Waiters as the only players to have worn an SU uniform and become NBA champions.
Not only was this Brissett’s fifth season in the association, but this season was his first appearance in the NBA Playoffs, and he went all the way. Brissett didn’t have as large a role in the playoffs as he did in the regular season. However, he still managed to post 16 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks, and three steals over ten postseason appearances.
The Canadian’s biggest contribution was a 7-point performance along with three rebounds in Boston’s only loss of the NBA Finals, a 122-84 demolition by Dallas in Game 4. This stat line made history for Syracuse, as Brissett’s seven points were the most scored by a former SU basketball player in an NBA Finals game. It took 70 years for someone to break the record, but Brissett did it after Gabor scored four points in the 1954 NBA Finals for the Syracuse Nats, a team that ended up falling to the Minneapolis Lakers.
One could infer that Brissett’s numbers would significantly drop after going to a national contender like Boston, which includes Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis. His role became smaller as he found himself behind Brown, Tatum, and Al Horford.
Throughout the regular season, Brissett averaged 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 11.5 minutes his first season as a Celtic. This was lower than his previous three years with the Indiana Pacers after signing with the Toronto Raptors following his tenure at Syracuse.
Brissett is now an NBA champion, making a proud moment for Syracuse basketball.
