Former UVA Basketball Star Ryan Dunn Posts First-Career NBA Double-Double

Former Virginia basketball star Ryan Dunn had the best game of his young NBA career on Thursday night, posting the first double-double of his rookie season to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 130-123 victory over the Washington Wizards in D.C. Dunn posted career-highs in both points and rebounds, finishing with 18 points on 8/12 shooting and 2/3 from beyond the arc to go along with 11 rebounds, one assist, and one block in 30 minutes played.

Ryan Dunn tonight:

18 PTS
11 REB
8-12 FG
1 BLK

ROTY 😤 pic.twitter.com/iWXOP6BXQH
— 𝑫𝒖𝒏𝒏𝑺𝒁𝜨⚡️ (@RyanOsoMuse) January 17, 2025

Thursday's game was the fourth in a row in double figures for Dunn and his 11th double-digit scoring effort of the season. Dunn is now averaging 7.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, has played in 36 of Phoenix's 40 games and started in 20, and is averaging just north of 20 minutes played per game.

Unsurprisingly, his three-point shot has come back down to earth since his otherworldly (especially compared to his college shooting splits) display of perimeter shooting in preseason action followed by connecting on 11 of his first 25 threes (44%) through his first five games of the season. Dunn is now shooting 32.3% from three on 3.6 attempts per game, which is still much better than many expected from him coming out of Virginia, where he made 12 total three-pointers on 23.5% shooting in two full seasons.

Dunn is far from a frontrunner for NBA Rookie of the Year, but he's still borderline top 10 according to the current odds. He is providing exactly what the Suns wanted from him when they selected him with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, giving Phoenix a huge lift on the defensive end with his athleticism and versatility, but he's also developing much faster on the offensive end. Dunn is handling the ball significantly better than he did in college and has added an effective runner/floater shot to his game, another offensive trait that was simply nowhere to be found in his time at Virginia.

ryan dunn has made 64% (16-25) on his floaters this season, he's done good work as a short roll outlet with his touch

dunn made 8 runners in his two seasons at virginia! pic.twitter.com/LHo5yyJTZV
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) January 17, 2025

Virginia fans are well aware of the type of person Ryan Dunn is off the court, but NBA fans are quickly discovering that for themselves. Dunn had a great moment go viral on the internet earlier this week, when Dunn noticed a fan waiting for players leaving the arena after the game as he was pulling away in his car and did a U-turn to come back and sign the fan's jersey.

Ryan Dunn drove back to the Phoenix Suns arena to sign a fans jersey after a game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/o9KAXtQdWa
— DunnMuse (@DunnMuse0) January 12, 2025

Dunn still has an outside chance to win the Rookie of the Year Award, but there are two other former UVA basketball stars who have even better chances to come home with NBA awards at the end of the season. De'Andre Hunter is currently a close second (behind Boston's Payton Pritchard) in the latest odds for Sixth Man of the Year, while Trey Murphy III is in the running for Most Improved Player. Both Hunter (19.4 ppg) and Murphy (21.6 ppg) have significantly improved their scoring averages from last season.

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