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Former Razorbacks get rings with NBA Finals win

Two former Razorbacks are heading into the offseason with a trophy, as Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Joe won the NBA Finals with the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who played under Arkansas head coach John Calipari, was named Finals MVP and scored 29 points in 40 minutes of Sunday's win. He averaged 30.2 points per game in the Finals series.

Also in attendance for Game 7 was former Arkansas coach Eric Musselman, who coached both Williams and Joe at Arkansas, and Calipari, who coached three players between the two rosters — Gilgeous- Alexander and Cason Wallace for Oklahoma City and Isaiah Jackson for Indiana.

The series went to seven games and the Thunder won the game on their home floor, 103-91. Neither Joe or Williams played in Game 7, but both were important to their teams' success over the course of the season.

Williams averaged 5.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 47 games played this past season. He had three triple-doubles over the course of the year.

Joe finished the season with a 10.2 point-per-game average and played in five of the seven Finals games. His highest scoring output in the NBA Finals came in Game 6, when he scored 11 points in 15 minutes during a 108-91 loss that pushed the series to a Game 7.

With the two Fort Smith natives winning the NBA Finals, four of the last five NBA Finals winners have featured at least one Razorback. On the other sideline, it's worth noting that former Razorback Jannero Pargo was also in the running for a championship, as he is an assistant coach for the Pacers.

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