Pat Connaughton didn’t forget where he came from.
When Connaughton, who played a crucial bench role for the Milwaukee Bucks en route to the NBA Finals win, tweeted out photos with the trophy on Saturday, he gave a shoutout to his hometown of Arlington, Mass. in the caption.
“Just a kid from Arlington, MA… with a dream…” he wrote.
Connaughton was a three-sport athlete at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Mass., and received offers to play baseball at the Division I level. He played both baseball and basketball collegiately at Notre Dame.
He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the fourth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, eventually joining their minor league system before he was selected by the Brooklyn Nets in 2015.
And after six years in the NBA, Arlington’s own has won the ultimate prize. He wrapped up the 2020-21 regular season averaging 6.8 points through 22.8 minutes per game, but thrived en route to the championship. Through six NBA Finals games, he averaged 30.0 minutes on the floor with 9.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists.
He celebrated like a champ after, too.
