Eight months ago, Patrick McCaw flummoxed the defending-champion Warriors as he refused to re-sign and took his restricted free agency into the season.
Last night, McCaw celebrated the Raptors winning the title over Golden State.
McCaw took a winding road to Toronto. He got drafted in the 2016 second round by the Warriors then won two straight titles with them. When his contract expired last year, he did everything he could to leave Golden State. McCaw eventually signed an offer sheet with the Cavaliers, had the Warriors not match, got waived, signed with the Raptors, waited through an NBA investigation then stuck in Toronto the rest of the season.
McCaw didn’t exactly get revenge on Golden State. He played just 48 minutes in the playoffs, including only 12 minutes in the Finals.
But the ring still fits.
McCaw became the fist player to individually threepeat since the Shaq-Kobe Lakers.
Not bad for someone who has spent just three years in the NBA.
McCaw is just the ninth player in NBA history to win a title his first three seasons. The record is eight straight years by K.C. Jones (followed by other 1960s Celtics Tom Sanders, John Havlicek and Gene Guarilia). The last player to hit three straight was Devean George on the 2000-2002 Lakers.
Here are the players who began their careers with the longest championship streaks:
McCaw is the only the only player on that leaderboard who earned those titles with multiple teams. That puts him on another select list, along with teammate Chris Boucher.
The only players to win consecutive titles with different teams:
- Patrick McCaw: 2018 Golden State Warriors, 2019 Toronto Raptors
- Chris Boucher: 2018 Golden State Warriors, 2019 Toronto Raptors
- Steve Kerr: 1998 Chicago Bulls, 1999 San Antonio Spurs
- Pep Saul: 1951 Rochester Royals, 1952 Minneapolis Lakers
- Mike Bloom: 1948 Baltimore Bullets, 1949 Minneapolis Lakers
- Johnny Jorgensen: 1948 Baltimore Bullets, 1949 Minneapolis Lakers
- Jerry Rullo: 1947 Philadelphia Warriors, 1948 Baltimore Bullets
Only McCaw, Steve Kerr and Pep Saul have won three straight championships while changing teams during the streak. Both Kerr (1996-1998 Chicago Bulls, 1999 San Antonio Spurs) and Saul (1951 Rochester Royals, 1952-1954 Minneapolis Lakers) actually did it as part of an individual four-peat.
Maybe someone should sign McCaw more quickly this summer.