June 4, 2015
Former Vanderbilt big man Festus Ezeli and the Golden State Warriors begin play in the NBA Finals at 8 p.m. CT Thursday against Cleveland.
After missing the 2013-14 season while recovering from surgery on his right knee, Ezeli has played in all 15 of Golden State’s playoff games, averaging 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, while serving as the backup to starting center Andrew Bogut. During the regular season, Ezeli averaged 4.4 points and 3.4 rebounds in 46 games.
Ezeli is the fourth former Commodore to reach the NBA Finals and first since Will Perdue in 1998-99 with the San Antonio Spurs. That year, Tim Duncan and David Robinson helped the Spurs defeat the New York Knicks, 4-1, to win the NBA title. Perdue did not log any minutes in the finals after logging time in the team’s previous 12 playoff games. The Spurs’ title gave Perdue his fourth NBA championship ring after winning his first three with the Chicago Bulls in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
Interestingly enough, current Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr was teammates with Perdue on the 1999 Spurs.
Yeeaaaa!!! #vupride @fezzyfel RT @Matty_Rich615: @DAVIDprice14 rockin a @fezzyfel jersey tonight. pic.twitter.com/0VAF9JqC7v
— David Price (@DAVIDprice14) May 28, 2015
The other former Vanderbilt players to reach the NBA Finals were Jeff Turner with the 1994-95 Orlando Magic and Clyde Lee with the 1966-67 San Francisco Warriors. The Warriors changed their name to the Golden State Warriors for the 1971-72 season.
Ezeli, who is in his third year in the NBA, has seen his playing time increase throughout the playoffs. When the Warriors eliminated Houston in the Western Conference Finals, Ezeli played 28 minutes with 12 points and nine rebounds, playoff highs in all three categories. The 28 minutes played were also a season high.
As he did at Vanderbilt, Ezeli has once again spread his infectious personality throughout the Warriors and their fan base. NBA MVP Stephen Curry even anointed Ezeli with the nickname #SWAGZELI. A search of the hashtag on Twitter or Instagram reveals countless mentions and images of Ezeli.
“#SWAGZELI was first introduced to me during the MVP speech,” Ezeli told teammate Harrison Barnes during an interview on Warriors.com. “I didn’t know that was how it was going to go. I thought that he was going to thank me for all the screens that I set, but instead I got introduced to the nickname #SWAGZELI.”
You can watch the whole interview with Barnes, here.
Ezeli was a part of a number of highlight plays against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Western Conference Finals. Here are a few of the best.
Good Read
Jeff Faraudo of the San Jose Mercury News recently wrote a terrific article on Festus and his journey to the United States. Vanderbilt fans likely have heard Ezeli’s story before, but it is a good refresher and includes interesting tidbits such as the fact that his parents have since moved from Nigeria to Sacramento. (READ)
Commodores in the NBA Finals
Clyde Lee
1966-67
San Francisco
Lost 4-2 to Philadelphia
Game 1
DNP
Game 2
9 pts
Game 3
8 pts
Game 4
11 pts
Game 5
2 pts
Game 6
2 pts
Will Perdue
1990-91
Chicago
Won 4-1 over Los Angeles Lakers
Game 1
6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block in 12 minutes
Game 2
2 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist in 11 minutes
Game 3
1 rebound in 6 minutes
Game 4
1 minute
Game 5
7 minutes
1991-92
Chicago
Won 4-2 over Portland
Game 1
2 points, 2 rebounds in 6 minutes
Game 2
1 rebound in 3 minutes
Game 3
DNP
Game 4
DNP
Game 5
1 minute
Game 6
DNP
1992-93
Chicago
Won 4-2 over Phoenix
Game 1
DNP
Game 2
DNP
Game 3
DNP
Game 4
DNP
Game 5
3 rebounds in 9 minutes
Game 6
DNP
1998-99
San Antonio
Won 4-1 over New York
DNP in the series
Jeff Turner
1994-95
Orlando
Lost 4-0 to Houston
Game 1
3 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist in 14 minutes
Game 2
3 points and 1 rebound in 11 minutes
Game 3
1 assist in 11 minutes
Game 4
2 rebounds in 7 minutes
NBA Final statistics from basketball-reference.com
