Michael Howard Finley (born March 6, 1973, in
Melrose Park, Illinois) is an American professional
basketball player who is a member of the NBA's San
Antonio Spurs.
The 6' 7" shooting guard/small forward was
originally drafted out of University of
Wisconsin-Madison by the Phoenix Suns as the 21st
overall pick of the 1995 NBA Draft. Finley held the
all-time scoring record at Wisconsin for eleven
years, but was passed by Alando Tucker on March 10,
2007. At Wisconsin, his nickname was 'Shooter'.
He had an impressive rookie season, being named to
the 1995-96 NBA All-Rookie First Team, finishing
third in Rookie of the Year voting after averaging
fifteen points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per
game. He became only the third rookie in Suns
history to score over 1,000 points in a season.
Despite his solid play, he was traded by the Suns on
December 26, 1996 to the Dallas Mavericks along with
Sam Cassell, A.C. Green and a second-round draft
pick for Jason Kidd, Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer.
In his first season with the Mavericks, he led them
in scoring, assists and steals. Along with another
Sun Steve Nash and forward Dirk Nowitzki, he became
an integral part of the Mavericks' "run and gun"
offense in no time, the trio often called "The Big
Three".
In 2000, he was selected to represent the Western
Conference in the 2000 All-Star Game, in which he
scored eleven points. In 2001 he was again selected
to represent the Western Conference on All-Star
weekend. He played for the US national team in the
2002 FIBA World Championship, the team lost a record
three games, failing to win a championship for the
first time in a major competition since FIBA opened
international competitions to NBA players.
Finley began to play more of a supporting role as he
aged and teammate Dirk Nowitzki blossomed. He
remained a clutch player for the Mavericks. For
financial reasons, however, in 2005 he was waived by
Dallas to avoid luxury taxes (as part of the
league's new labor agreement) on his 51.8 million
USD salary over the next three years. Finley became
an unrestricted free agent and after being
aggressively pursued by high-caliber teams like
Detroit, Miami, Minnesota and Phoenix, he elected to
remain in Texas with the San Antonio Spurs.
In San Antonio he has adapted well to a secondary
role as Manu Ginobili's backup. He has adjusted his
game to fit his role there, developing and
emphasizing his outside shooting. The Spurs were
knocked out of the 2006 NBA Playoffs by his former
team one year after he made the switch. During the
series, Finley was punched below the belt by former
teammate Jason Terry during Game 5, which earned the
Maverick a suspension for the next game of the
series.
In the fifth and final game of San Antonio's
first-round series against Denver in 2007, Finley
set the Spurs' record for three-point field goals in
a playoff game, shooting 8/9 from beyond the arc. He
eclipsed the previous record of 7 set by teammate
Bruce Bowen in 2003.
Finley won an NBA championship in 2007 with the San
Antonio Spurs in his 12th NBA season. He was given
the "game ball" by his teammates, and specifically
mentioned in post-game interviews by Robert Horry
and Tim Duncan. Out of the original Trio from the
Dallas Mavericks, he became the first to achieve a
title, surpassing the 2006-07 NBA MVP, Nowitzki and
previous two-time winner, Nash.
