Former Oklahoma State Stars Make History in NBA Battle
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Tuesday’s NBA slate featured a unique battle for Oklahoma State.
Over the years, the Cowboys have sent various players to the NBA to have successful careers. While there have been greats in the past, this could be the golden era of OSU alumni in the league, with Marcus Smart winning Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 and Cade Cunningham earning his first All-Star appearance this season.
Those two former OSU standouts and high draft picks matched up for the fourth time in their careers on Tuesday, when Cunningham’s Detroit Pistons beat Smart’s Washington Wizards. OSU’s third player currently in the league, Lindy Waters III, also was on the floor for the Pistons in that matchup to mark the first time three former OSU players have all played in the same NBA game.
Throughout the history of the league, OSU has seen 31 players play in an NBA game, with those players almost never playing on the same team, thus making three OSU players in the same contest a near impossibility. After Waters was sent to Detroit at the trade deadline, OSU players teamed up in the NBA for the first time since John Starks and Brooks Thompson did so with the New York Knicks in 1998.
Over a quarter of a century later, two Cowboys have finally teamed up in the association again. With a matchup against another former Cowboy on Tuesday, OSU was a big winner.
Cunningham led his Pistons to a win behind a game-high 27 points to go with eight rebounds and 10 assists. Meanwhile, Smart did his best to try and keep the Wizards afloat, scoring a team-high 16 points in 21 minutes off the bench. There was also some Cowboy-on-Cowboy action in the third quarter, with Smart blocking a Cunningham layup.
Waters finally got his opportunity after the game was put out of reach and made the most of his time on the floor. In under three minutes of action to close the game, Waters nailed both of his 3-point attempts to finish with six points, bringing the OSU total to 49 for the night.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.