Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks begin a best-of-seven series for the 2026 NBA Championship. For Knights fans looking for a rooting interest, an argument could be made for San Antonio as they pursue their sixth NBA title…one of which came against the Knicks back in 1999.
Here are a few notable connections between UCF and the San Antonio Spurs organization.
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(Photo: Damian Strohmeyer/Allsport/Getty Images, Getty)
The current Knights head coach was chosen by the Spurs out of Duke as the 10th overall pick in the 1986 NBA Draft. In three seasons with San Antonio, Dawkins played 178 regular season games averaging 13 points with 1.2 steals, 5.6 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game. Ahead of the 1989-1990 NBA season, Dawkins was traded to Philadelphia, where he played five seasons, then played one for the Detroit Pistons before moving on to coaching.
(Photo: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images, Getty)
Brian Wright is the current General Manager of the Spurs. Wright, a Maryland native, played Division III basketball at La Sierra University in California before attending UCF for graduate school. He earned a master’s degree in Sports Business Management from UCF in 2007 while working in scouting and player development for the Orlando Magic.
Wright became the Spurs’ GM in 2019 and has since helped rebuild the five-time champions, most notably with the selection of Victor Wembanyama first overall in the 2023 NBA Draft and Stephon Castle fourth overall in 2024. Wembanyama and Castle were NBA Rookies of the Year in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Ibrahima Diallo
(Photo: Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images, Getty)
Diallo finished his college career at UCF after stints with Ohio State and San Jose State, earning an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention at the end of the 2023-2024 season. The Senegalese seven-footer went undrafted in 2024, but signed with the Spurs that summer and played for their NBA Summer League Team as well as the Spurs’ G-League affiliate in Austin, Texas. Diallo played for the Knicks’ G-League affiliate in 2025-2026, but was waived in the Fall.
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