Former Iowa high school standout now an NBA champion

Grant Gibbs played for one of the premier high school basketball programs in Iowa growing up. From there, he took his game to Gonzaga and Creighton before ultimately entering the coaching ranks.

On Sunday night, Gibbs achieved the highest honor of his basketball career as the Oklahoma City Thunder won the NBA championship in seven games over the Indiana Pacers.

Gibbs is an assistant coach with the Thunder, joining the team back in 2017. He spent three seasons with the NBA G League team the Oklahoma City Blue before returning to the Thunder alongside head coach Mark Daigneault in 2022.

The 35-year-old helped lead Linn-Mar to a state championship as a junior, capping off a 24-1 season in which he averaged 13 points and almost five rebounds and five assists per game.

Gibbs scored 15 points with eight rebounds in the title game that year, as Linn-Mar placed third his senior season. That time, Gibbs sank a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in his final game with the Lions, scoring 22 points.

A multi-time all-stater, he also led the team to a fourth as a sophomore, finishing 23-3 overall. From there, Gibbs landed at Gonzaga where he made one start and appeared in 24 games as a freshman after taking a redshirt due to an injury.

Gibbs redshirted his first season at Creighton following knee surgery but would play 86 straight games after, earning honorable menton all-Missouri Valley Conference status. After graduating, he would play a couple seasons with the Landstede Zwolle of the Dutch Basketball League and the Oettinger Rockets of the ProA, a German second division.