San Antonio Spurs’ third-year guard Cory Joseph has joined an exclusive and elite Canadian basketball company by becoming only the fifth Canadian to ever win an NBA Championship.
The 22-year-old Pickering, Ontario native joined Canadian greats Mike Smrek, Bill Wennington, Rick Fox, and Joel Anthony.
Joseph made back-to-back final appearances with the San Antonio Spurs, taking down the OKC Thunder 111-107 in overtime to win Game Six and the best-of-seven series 4-2, setting up a rematch of the 2013 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.
Joseph has played in 14 of the Spurs’ 17 postseason games thus far, including earning 17 minutes in Game 5 of the OKC Thunder series, finishing with an NBA playoff career-high of 11 points.
Despite his minutes being cut down from last postseason (9.6), Joseph has been just as efficient for the San Antonio Spurs, putting up 3.3 points in just 5.7 minutes of playing time.
Other Canadians to appear in back-back NBA Finals
Mike Smrek – Los Angeles Lakers (1986-87, 1987-88)
Bill Wennington – Chicago Bulls (1995-96, 1996-97)
Rick Fox – Los Angeles Lakers (1999-00, 2000-01, 2001-02)
Joel Anthony – Miami Heat (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13)
Cory Joseph – San Antonio Spurs (2012-13, 2013-14)
