Keep on Winning: Oakland's Legacy in the NBA and the Battle for the Larry O'Brien Trophy

Aug 04, 2023

With altitude-thin, suffocating air rushing through the ticketing gates at Ball Arena, the pearl white shoes of Mike Malone stood on the navy blue sideline hardwood ahead of game one of the 2023 NBA finals.

The Nuggets concluded their 47th regular season in the Mile High City with a number one seed in the Western Conference off a 53-29 record spearheaded by the efforts of Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray, and the two-time NBA MVP and 28-year-old Serbian, Nikola Jokic, as the club seeks to capture its first-ever NBA title.

Malone stood at the end of the bench as tipoff commenced filled with major college basketball program stars and depth from teams such as Kansas, Indiana, Arizona, UCLA, Duke, Georgetown, and others.

Not a single player hails from the mid-major level. None except the one in the stylish blue suite, Malone. On May 30, the Oakland University Men's Basketball Twitter account revealed something that might have come as a shock to some Golden Grizzlies fans: Malone has roots in Rochester, Michigan.

The Queens, New York native graduated from Loyola University Maryland in 1993 when the former guard evaluated his options following a career as a Greyhound just as Oakland's Greg Kampe and company had come off a 15-11 season in 1992-93 when a coaching vacancy opened and a call came in.

Brendon, Malone's father, reached out to the ninth-season head coach and recommended Malone join the Pioneers’ staff. Kampe agreed.

Back in Denver, another set of shoes made their way across the coveted ‘NBA Finals’ logo and took a seat looking across at a crowd that began to fill the arena with the chants and cheers against the one donned in all red: Jamal Cain.

Cain was wrapping up his rookie season on a two-way contract with the Miami Heat which had the Pontiac native see time with the franchise's G-League (development team) affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Golden Grizzlies fans remember fondly of the Co-#HLMBB Player of the Year season as No. 1 in black and gold, switching over to No. 8 in his budding pro career, when the lovable 6-7 forward took to The Blacktop in a single season as the only player in the Horizon League to average a double-double.

As Cain was quickly embraced by the OU fandom, especially after a power five upset in Stillwater against Oklahoma State, both Skyforce and Heat fans began to familiarize themselves with the newcomer and the impressive stat lines he averaged in South Dakota.

With a healthy 33.5 minutes per game, Cain averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest curtailed by a 54.9% field goal percentage and 81.8% free throw percentage as Sioux Falls boasts G League alums taking to the floor at the NBA Finals.

Where Denver lacked mid-major talent, Miami thrives on it. Along with Cain, there are several that hold non-power program backgrounds for the Heat; most notably Caleb Martin (Nevada), Gabe Vincent (UC-Santa Barbara), and NCAA Division II product Haywood Highsmith (Wheeling Jesuit).

Although Cain's national television time peaked during the Eastern Conference finals sitting next to Heat star Tyler Herro, more Golden Grizzlies have seen the arena lights shine when the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy is on the line.

Kendrick Nunn faced off against LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers in the unprecedented 2020 season with the Heat as well, falling 4-2 in the six-game series. James had an Oakland teammate in Kay Felder in 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers reached the NBA Finals and fell 4-3 to the illustrious Golden State Warriors.

Nunn finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting while Felder declared for the NBA Draft after his junior season in 2016, getting picked up in the second round 45th overall by Atlanta (then traded to Cleveland that night). Felder was the second OU player to be drafted as Keith Benson was the first in 2011, also by Atlanta.

Cain and Nunn are the only Golden Grizzlies on an active NBA roster as Nunn was traded over to the Washington Wizards in January of 2023 though the list grows with Rawle Marshall reaching the NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks as the team lost to– you guessed it– the Miami Heat in the 2005-06 season.

In the front office, the recognizable names of Travis Bader and Max Hooper on the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers are on staff though only the latter won an NBA Finals Championship. Both were Golden Grizzly student-athletes under Kampe in the 2010s.

Ryan Hoover currently serves as Vice President of Global Scouting with the Milwaukee Bucks following 13 seasons with the hometown Detroit Pistons. Hoover was a guard for Oakland, graduating in 2004, and saw a championship with the Bucks in 2021.

Speaking of the Pistons, Jordan Sabourin, former OU student-athlete from 2000-2004, is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Detroit after a stint overseas.

It's a long way of saying that Oakland has a long tradition of seeing staff and student-athletes reach the pinnacle of the sport and perform well when the lights are the brightest on a national stage.

Malone was set to join the Michigan State Police before a job offer from Providence College's Pete Gillan propelled the New Yorker's career further after a single season in Rochester. In that one year, Oakland went 20-9 overall and 12-6 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play with a bid to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Pioneers suffered a loss to Quincy University (Ill.) in the Midwest Regional in Evansville, Indiana and Malone was off to Big East Conference play out of Rhode Island which began a domino of events that led Malone to the Head Coaching position of the Sacramento Kings in 2013 then the Nuggets in 2015.

Now standing as the big man in Denver, the final buzzer sounded at Ball Arena with a run-away victory, 104-93 over the Heat in game one as the two will battle it out for the first to four games. Either way, the Golden Grizzlies will see a champion emerge from a long and storied program with individuals from humble beginnings.

It seems that no matter the 2023 NBA Champion the Golden Grizzlies keep on winning.

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