Former Ohio State guard, currently of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Mike Conley crossed a career milestone on Saturday, scoring his 15,000th career point in a 151-131 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Conley crossed the milestone in a 20-point effort against the Spurs, becoming the 157th player in NBA history to score at least 15,000 career points.
“It’s just a testament of longevity and being able to play this game for as long as I have been. It’s a blessing,” Conley said after the win. “I wouldn’t ever have thought as a kid I’d even be close to that. Just truthfully grateful and humbled to continue to be playing.”
In his one season with the Buckeyes in 2006-07, Conley helped lead Ohio State to its first NCAA National Championship appearance since 1962 — alongside big man Greg Oden. Conley’s 11.3 points and 6.1 assists per game — including 16.0 points and 4.8 assists per game during Ohio State’s tournament run —allowed him to make the jump to the professional ranks after just one year in college.
Conley caught on quickly with the Memphis Grizzlies, where he spent the first 12 seasons of his career and became a franchise staple during one of the best multi-year runs in franchise history known as the “Grit-and-Grind” era. While with the Grizzlies, Conley reached the postseason in five-straight seasons, posting averages of 14.9 points per game and 5.7 assists.
Conley was traded to the Utah Jazz in 2019, where he continued to impress, landing on his first-career All-Star team during the 2020-21 season. Across three seasons and change with the Jazz, Conley averaged 13.8 points and 5.8 assists.
Earlier this season, he has involved a three-team trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which also sent fellow former Buckeye D’Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the same deal. Conley has posted 11.8 points per game this season — his lowest since the 2008-09 season — on 42.7 percent shooting.
Saturday’s game featured several other Buckeyes, with Keita Bates-Diop and Malaki Branham as members of the Spurs. Bates-Diop produced 22 points while Branham added 17 in the loss.
