Former Wichita State star Landry Shamet wins NBA title with New York Knicks
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- Landry Shamet won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks.
- Shamet left Wichita State and captured the title eight years later.
- Shamet joins a short list of former WSU players who have won NBA championships.
Eight years after leaving Wichita State early to chase an NBA dream, Landry Shamet reached the finish line Saturday night in New York.
The Kansas City native and 2015 Park Hill graduate became an NBA champion Saturday night, adding his name to Shocker history after helping the New York Knicks finish off a 4-1 series victory over the San Antonio Spurs with a 94-90 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
Shamet is now part of a short list of former WSU players who have won an NBA title. He joins Nate Bowman and Dave Stallworth, who won with the Knicks in 1970; Cliff Levingston, who won championships with the Chicago Bulls in 1991 and 1992; and Shamet’s former WSU teammate Fred VanVleet, who won with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
For Shamet, 29, the championship capped the best playoff run of his eight-year professional career.
Entering Saturday’s clincher, Shamet had scored 109 points in 18 playoff games while shooting 28-for-57 from 3-point range. He delivered some of his biggest moments in the Eastern Conference Finals when he made 11 of 12 3-pointers against Cleveland, including back-to-back 14- and 16-point performances to help send the Knicks to the NBA Finals.
He carried that confidence into the championship series, scoring 13 points in each of the first two games against San Antonio. In Game 5, Shamet saved all five of his points for the fourth quarter when New York finished off one more comeback in a Finals series full of them.
The Knicks trailed by double digits in all five games against the Spurs, yet still found a way to win four of them and claim the franchise’s first championship since 1973.
Shamet hit a 3-pointer during New York’s fourth-quarter rally Saturday, then followed with an aggressive drive and layup. He fell awkwardly after the finish and had to be helped to the locker room with 7:54 remaining, but he returned to the court with 26.1 seconds left to be part of the final moments of the Knicks’ championship celebration.
Shamet was no stranger to championship moments at WSU. After injuries limited him to three games as a true freshman, Shamet became the starting point guard on the 2016-17 team that shared the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship, then removed all doubt by beating Illinois State by 20 points in the MVC tournament championship game. Shamet scored 14 points in that title-game win, helping send the Shockers back to the NCAA tournament.
Shamet played at Wichita State from 2015-18 before declaring early for the NBA Draft, where he was selected No. 26 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018.
Now, after eight seasons, six NBA teams and one memorable postseason run in New York, Shamet has joined the most exclusive club in basketball.
He is an NBA champion.
This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 10:31 PM.
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