Shaquille O’Neal shares his birthday with former Mavericks All-Star Michael Finley and Marcus Smart. He celebrated his 51st birthday yesterday.
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Michael Finley is a name that most NBA fans below 25 years of age will likely be unfamiliar with. After all, the former Wisconsin swingman retired from professional basketball in 2010.
Finley was a smooth scorer with the ability to score from all 3 ranges – a rarity in that era. However, he wasn’t the featured scorer for most of his career, due in part to playing on more successful teams. His 2 All-Star selections do underline how much of a problem he was, though.
Michael Finley faced Michael Jordan in a 1v1 as a senior in High School
The Illinois native first garnered national attention by leading his high school team to the IHSA Trophy. The reward for this achievement? A meeting and a duel with the greatest player in basketball history!
Finley and Michael Jordan had a short 1v1 game and a H-O-R-S-E challenge between themselves at Deerfield. Jordan let Finley go for the first shot, before taking over and going 3-1 in the race till 3.
It was quite a great experience for the then-18-year-old, who played 4 great seasons at Wisconsin-Madison. Finley entered the NBA Draft as the highest scorer in program history.
How good was Finley during his prime?
Finley was a key member of the Dallas Mavericks during the early years of Dirk Nowitzki’s era. They came close to making the NBA Finals in 2002-03, but were eliminated by Tim Duncan’s Spurs.
Finley eventually went on to win a championship as a rotation piece for the 2006-07 Spurs. He also made the Finals with the Boston Celtics in his final season before retirement.
Finley had no weaknesses in his game. He was not, however, elite at any aspect of the game, making it difficult for him to gain superstar status.
