The San Antonio Spurs are Tony Parker and Tim Duncan's team. So when a guy by the name of Gary Neal steps up and puts on a show, many scratch their head and wonder "Who the hell is this guy?" Miami Heat fans probably only know LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on their squad, so imagine how confused they must be when a bench player kills their team in the finals. Really though, who is Gary Neal?
Neal is a 6-4 guard weighing 210 pounds. He hails from Baltimore, Maryland and is 28 years old.
Neal went to Townson University. Wait, where? Towson University in Towson Maryland. This is no Duke or Florida State, Neal is only the second NBA player to come from that school. Who was the other? Kurk Lee back in 1991 and he only played 48 games with the New Jersey Nets.
Neal was discovered playing overseas while in Italy. He was a part of the Benetton Treviso and Unicaja Malaga in Spain. He was signed by the Spurs in 2010 and though he hit the spotlight in 2013 in the NBA Finals, Neal has been knocking down threes since his days in Europe where he was a 37 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Once in the NBA, his game didn't change much. He broke the Spurs' rookie record for three-point field goal percentage and three-point field goals made. That year, 2010-2011, Neal's three-point percentage was .419 and he made 129 threes. He made the All-Rookie team, only the second undrafted rookie to do so in NBA history.
It was almost like Neal had been preparing himself during his three-year career for this moment. You have to respect what Danny Green is doing, but he's had more of a profile coming into this series. Neal is in his third year in the NBA and never averaged 10 points per game in his career.
Neal might have provided the "special moment" of these NBA Finals after his 24 points in Game 3. He went 6-10 from beyond the arc, including a buzzer beating three. Neal went on to fill up the rest of his stat sheets after grabbing four rebounds and getting three assists.
