Former College Park Skyhawks Standout Tony Bradley Hopes to Make An Impact for the Indiana Pacers In the NBA Finals

The NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers will begin tonight, but I am not here to talk about why the Thunder could win or why Indiana could pull a historic upset. Smarter people have talked about that so I am going to talk about the fact that the College Park Skyhawks (the Atlanta Hawks G-League Affiliate) is going to have a former player possibly take the floor for only the second time ever.

Last year with the Dallas Mavericks, AJ Lawson only played 10 minutes in the NBA finals after playing from the Skyhawks from 2021-2023 and he was the first former Skyhawk to play during the NBA Finals. Whenever Tony Bradley takes the floor for the Indiana Pacers this series, he is going to be the next Skyhawk to try and impact a team competing on the biggest stage in basketball.

Bradley played one year at the University of North Carolina, winning the 2017 NCAA Tournament. He contributed five points, seven rebounds and one assist in UNC’s national championship victory over Gonzaga.

After being a first-round pick in 2017, Bradley played for four different NBA teams from 2017-2023, playing in 179 games and averaging 4.4 PPG and 4.1 RPG. Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 28th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Bradley was traded to Utah on draft night. He appeared in a career-high 58 games (three starts) with the Jazz during the 2019-20 season under now Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, helping to lead Utah to a 44-28 record and the club’s fourth consecutive trip to the Western Conference Playoffs.

He spent the 2023-24 campaign with the Texas Legends in the NBA G League, appearing in 17 games (10 starts), averaging 14.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.7 blocks in 21.3 minutes (.671 FG%, .719 FT%). Before playing for the Skyhawks, the 6-10 center has seen action in 61 career NBA G League games (54 starts) with Texas (2023-24) and Salt Lake City (2017-19), owning averages of 14.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 blocks in 25.9 minutes of action (.602 FG%, .677 FT%).

Bradley was signed by the Atlanta Hawks on October 7th, but was waived the next day. He then joined the Skyhawks for training camp and made the final roster.

Bradley appeared in 24 games for the Skyhawks across the Showcase Cup and Regular Season
14.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 1.0 apg. In the regular season home opener against Windy City on 12/30, Bradley finished with 17 points (7-10 FGM), 16 rebounds, and four blocks, becoming the first Skyhawk in franchise history with 17+ points, 16+ rebounds, and 4+ blocks.

After his last game with the Skyhawks on 2/24, Bradley was on a career-long streak of six straight games with double-doubles (2/6-2/24) and collected nine double-doubles in his last 11 contests. His .702 FG% at that point in the regular season ranked second in the G League. In his last game on 2/24 at Salt Lake City, he tied his career-high of 28 points for the second time in 10 games, while also bringing down 13 rebounds

So how did Bradley find his way to the Indiana Pacers?

Bradley signed a 10-day contract with Indiana on March 2nd, signed another 10-day contract on March 13, and then he was officially signed to a multi-year contract with the Pacers on March 23rd. Appeared in 14 games during the regular season with Indiana 4.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 8.1 mpg, including securing a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double in the final game of the regular season at Cleveland on 4/13.

When you are a 10-day contract player, nothing is guaranteed to you during the NBA playoffs when it comes to getting on the floor and it speaks to Bradley's work ethic that he showed the entire time when he was at College Park. He has appeared in 8 playoff games with the Pacers and in games 2, 3, and 4 against New York in the ECF, played a combined 33 minutes. Scored a point in games 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The NBA Finals can be unpredictable and role players often play a big role in helping the outcome. Will Bradley get a chance to showcase himself on the biggest stage in basketball?

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