Celtics bring Bay Area ties to the NBA Finals

If you're a Warriors fan who also happens to be a Bay Area college basketball fan, you might recognize a few Celtics when they arrive for the NBA Finals.

Jaylen Brown, the Celtics' second-leading scorer at 23.6 points per game, played one season at Cal. He was a 5-star recruit out of Marietta, Georgia, ranked third in the class headed by Ben Simmons. Brown was named Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12, but after a disappointing NCAA Tournament exit against a 13seed, Hawaii, he declared for the NBA draft and was chosen by the Celtics with the No. 3 pick, behind Simmons and Brandon Ingram.

Malik Fitts is an end-of-bench guy for the Celtics who played two seasons at Saint Mary's, the best supporting actor in the Jordan Ford Show. In 2019, he was All-WCC on a Gaels team that went 26-8 and would have reached the NCAA tournament if the pandemic hadn't forced its cancelation.

Ime Udoka, the Celtics coach, spent one season as a player for the San Francisco Dons. A 6-foot-6 forward, he was a member of the 199798 team, the last to make the NCAA tournament until the Dons ended the drought in March at 25 years. A junior transfer from Utah Stave University Eastern, Udoku was a deep reserve for USF coach Phil Mathews, appearing in 21 games and scoring 34 points.

Miles, a Celtics assistant coach, has no connection to Bay Area college basketball, but he does have a relationship with the Warriors. He played for Golden State for 19 games in 2005-06, the team with Baron Davis at point guard, Mike Montgomery at coach, and Chris Mullin as GM. The next season was “We Believe,” but Miles was long gone by then. Miles, 39, reconnected with the Warriors in 2017 as coach of their GLeague team in Santa Cruz.