ATHENS, Ga. — The NBA Championship ended with a former Georgia Bulldog holding the Larry O’Brien Trophy for the third time in the six seasons. Dave Bliss, a four-year starter for Georgia from 2004-08, is currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder, which defeated Indiana in Game 7 of the championship series last Sunday.

Prior to Bliss, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope helped the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets to NBA titles in 2020 and 2023, respectively.

Bliss’ title capped an extremely successful season for former Bulldogs in the NBA and internationally.

Bliss, who helped Georgia capture the 2008 SEC Tournament title during his senior season, is in his 12th season in his second stint with the Thunder. He has served as an assistant coach since 2019 after previous roles in player development with the franchise from 2018-19 and from 2010-15. The Thunder have reached the Playoffs in eight of Bliss’ 12 seasons, including the 2012 NBA Finals and the 2011 and 2014 Western Conference Finals. Bliss also spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the New York Knicks from 2015-18. In addition, he has served as the head coach for the Thunder’s summer league team. 

Anthony Edwards’ ascension to superstar status with the Minnesota Timber Wolves continued during the 2024-25 season. After capturing a Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics last summer, Edwards helped Minnesota advance to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season. The Atlanta native and 2020 SEC Freshman of the Year was tabbed second-team All-NBA after averaging 27.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game this season. He also became the youngest player in NBA history to make 1,000 career 3-pointers in February.

Caldwell-Pope, the 2013 SEC Player of the Year while at Georgia, was traded from the Orlando Magic to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this month. Memphis will be the sixth franchise in KCP’s career. Originally the No. 8 overall pick of Detroit and playing for the Pistons from 2013-17, Caldwell-Pope also has played for the Lakers (2017-21), Wizards (2021-22), Nuggets (2022-24) and Magic (2024-25). He started all 77 games he played for Orlando last season, averaging 8.7 points, 2.2 boards, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game in Orlando and topped 10,000 career points on March 2 against Toronto.

Nicolas Claxton, an All-SEC performer as a sophomore in 2019 before entering the NBA Draft, enjoyed a productive sixth season with the Brooklyn Nets, starting 62 of 70 games played and averaging 10.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, a career-high 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. Claxton ascended to No. 6 among the Nets’ career leaders in blocked shots, finishing the season with 534 rejections and well within reach of the No. 4 spot if he produces a fourth-straight 100-swat season in 2025-26.

All told, 15 former Bulldogs played professionally around the world during 2024-25.

Aaron Cook helped Zorg and Zekerheid Leiden reach the championship series of the national playoffs in Holland. In 10 playoff outings, Cook averaged 9.2 points, 5.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. ZZ Leiden competes in the BNXT League during the regular season, with teams from Holland and Belgium. The Club finished 17-18 overall and 12th in league standings.

Tyree Crump started the 2024-25 season by averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Arab Club Championship. He then moved to the Matero Magic in Zambia’s D1 league, then to the Mighty Barrolle of Liberia’s D1 league, and finally the Al Shurtah Police in the Iraqi Superleague, where he collected 6.9 points, 2.6  assists and 2.1 boards through eight games. Crump wrapped up his season with 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a single outing with Al Ahli Doha in Qatar’s QBL.

Nemanja “Nemi” Djurisic averaged 11.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 44 games with BC Pari Nizhny Novgorod in Russia’s VTB United League. The club posted an 18-26 record to earn the No. 6 seed in the VTB Playoffs before falling to eventual champion CSKA Moscow in the opening round of the playoffs. Djurisic moved on to play for Al Qadsia in the Kuwaiti D1 league in May.

Mike Edwards transitioned from KK Pelister Sport Bitola, which competes in North Macedonia’s PRVA League and the ABA’s League 2, to Timisoara in Romania. Edwards has now played in eight countries (Romania, North Macedonia, Russia, the United States, Azerbaijan, Canada, Kosovo and Russia). In 17 games, Edwards averaged 12.6 points and 5.1 boards while connecting on 65.8 percent of his two-point field goal attempts for Timisoara, which finished 14-16 and ninth in the Romania-Liga Nationals standings.

J.J. Frazier recorded team-leading averages of 20.2 points, 6.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game for Bordo Sportive Balikesir in Turkey’s TBL. Frazier also grabbed 5.4 rebounds in his eighth season playing in Europe. Bordo finished 18-16 on the season, losing a tiebreaker for the final spot in the TBL Playoffs. Among league leaders, Frazier finished No. 11 in scoring and No. 5 in both assists and steals. He was named TBL Player of the Week on Jan. 7 after posting 39 points, six rebounds and nine assists in a 93-85 win over Balikesir BBS.

Jailyn Ingram averaged 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 24 games for the Tachikawa Dice in the Japanese B3 league before having his season cut short by an injury in January. He has returned to the U.S. to rehab and has been a frequent visitor to the Stegeman Coliseum practice facility during that process.

Rayshaun Hammonds put together a stellar season playing for the Suwon KT Sonicboom, which competed in both South Korea’s KBL and the East Asia Super League. He averaged 17.2 points, 9.5 boards, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 61 KBL contests. Suwon was 33-21 in KBL action, finishing fourth and then reaching the Playoff semifinals. Hammonds finished seventh in the league in scoring and sixth in rebounding and was named KBL Player of the Week on April 1 after scoring 26 points and grabbing 11 boards in a 69-67 victory over Wonju. Hammonds posted averages of 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.2 steals in a half-dozen Super League contests, in which Suwon finished 3-3.

Jordan Harris played for SSD Real Sebastiani Rieti in Italy’s Serie A and A2. He averaged 8.1 points, 2.0 boards and 1.4 assists in eight Serie A outings before the club was relegated to Serie A2. There Harris contributed 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 23 contests during the rest of the season. He was tabbed A2 Player of the Week after pouring in a season-high 31 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field in a 90-71 win over Cividale in January. Rieti finished 23-15 and fourth in the A2 standings, reaching the Playoff semifinals.

Yante Maten put up strong numbers for the San-En NeoPhoenix in Japan’s B1 league. The 2018 SEC Player of the Year averaged 14.8 points. 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 blocks per game in 60 outings. Maten was honored as the B1 Player of the Week on both Nov. 13 and March 3. San-en NP finished 47-12 and atop the B1 Central Division standings before falling to Ryukyu, the top seed from the West Division, in the Playoff semifinals. 

Derek Ogbeide began the 2024-25 campaign with Cedevita Olympija Ljubljana in Slovenia before moving to Israel in November to play for Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem and then finishing the year with Trapani in Italy’s Serie A. Ogbeide averaged 5.5 points in six ABA outings and 4.0 points in five Eurocup performances in Slovenia. In Israel, he contributed 6.9 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 77.4 percent from the floor in eight Israeli Winner League games and 5.5 points and 4.9 boards in 11 Eurocup contests. Ogbeide then logged action in two Serie A Playoff outings with Trapani, a win over Reggio Emilia to clinch a quarterfinals series and a setback to Brescia to being the semifinals.

Terry Roberts’ season has included stints with the Long Island Nets’ in the NBA’s G-League and with the Winnipeg Sea Bears of Canada’s CEBL. In 31 outings for the Nets, Roberts averaged 6.7 points, 5.2 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, including a triple-double of 10 points, 10 boards and 10 assists against the Westchester Knicks on Feb. 25. In 11 outings for Winnipeg to date, he is contributing 12.1 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Winnipeg is 5-6, with the CEBL regular season continues into early August.

Gerald Robinson played for Rivierabanca Basket Rimini of Italy’s Serie A2, the 10th country in his lengthly career. Robinson averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game for Rimini, which finished 26-12 and second in the A2 standings. The Crabs advanced to the Playoff finals, where they were upset by Cantu, 3-0. 

After beginning the season in Turkey, Noah Thomasson transitioned to KK Mornar in Montenegro. Competing in the ABA, he averaged 10.0 points, 3.2 assists and 2.0 rebounds over 23 games, including a season-high 21 points against Cibona on March 7. KK Mornar struggled to a 2-28 record in ABA action.

Trey Thompkins’ journey returned to Spain in 2024-25, where he averaged a team-leading 12.2 points and 3.7 boards playing in 26 games for Leyma Basquet Coruna. Thompkins hit his stride this spring, averaging 20.8 points in a four-game stretch between March 16-April 6. The club posted a 7-27 overall record in Spain’s Liga Endesa.

Terrance Woodbury continues to shine in Japan. Playing for the Shinshu Brave Warriors Nagano in the B2 League, Woodbury scored 17.1 points per game while also contributing 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists over 49 games. He was the league’s ninth-leading scorer and was selected as the B2 Player of the Week on Dec. 9 following a 36-point, seven-rebound outing in a 108-58 thumping of Ehime OV. Shinshu posted a 37-23 record to finish third in the East Division standings and then advanced to the semifinals of the B2 Playoffs before falling to eventual champion Altiri Chiba.