The NBA Finals begin Thursday with either the Denver Nuggets or Miami Heat set to become the 78th champion of the association going back to 1947. MaxPreps dug into the archives to explore which state has produced the most players on championship rosters. <\/p>\n
Every player on the list of more than 400 appeared in at least one game during the season their team won the title. Players were attached to states based on where they went to high school. <\/p>\n
Second on the leaderboard is New York with 44. The Empire State produced legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius Erving but it started long before them. In the 1948 Finals, Connie Simmons from Flushing led the Baltimore Bullets in scoring. <\/p>\n
Illinois is third on the list with 42 champions spanning every decade. That number includes the first five-time winner in George Mikan of Joliet Catholic (Joliet, Ill.). <\/p>\n
New York 44 <\/p>\n
Gus Williams, Mount Vernon <\/p>\n
Texas 19 <\/p>\n
Virginia 14 Quinn Cook, Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson) Bob Dandridge, Maggie Walker (Richmond) Gerald Henderson Sr., Huguenot (Richmond) Stephen Jackson, Oak Hill Academy Jerome Kersey, Bluestone (Skipwith) Earl Lloyd, Parker-Gray (Alexandria) Tony Massenburg, Sussex Central (Sussex) Moses Malone, Petersburg James Michael McAdoo, Norfolk Christian (Norfolk) Alonzo Mourning, Indian River (Chesapeake) David Robinson, Osbourn Park (Manassas) Rajon Rondo, Oak Hill Marreese Speights, Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham) David West, Hargrave Military Academy <\/p>\n
Clay Johnson, Manuel (Kansas City) <\/p>\n
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\nStates that have produced the most NBA Finals champions - MaxPreps<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"