This is not Curry v. LeBron or Kyrie v. Klay. It’s not even Mozgov v. Bogut. Not here at least.

The NBA Finals is about two title-starved franchises, though Jonnie West or Mike Gansey won’t have to wait as long as their championship series franchises have had to. West is the assistant general manager of the Warriors Developmental League team, and the Santa Cruz Warriors won the league title this season. Gansey is the director of developmental league operations with the Canton Charge.

Only two Developmental League franchises have made the playoffs each of the past four years, and the Warriors and Charge can thank the two former West Virginia stars for doing their part in that achievement and in helping the NBA club find its way to this stage.

Both Developmental League clubs helped their NBA parent teams. Former North Carolina star James Michael McAdoo was an all-star with Santa Cruz and was called up twice by Golden State before he signed for the remainder of the season upon his third trip in February. Seven-footer Ognjen Kuzmin floated between the two teams as well, and West said the Bosnian “has definitely turned himself into, I think, an NBA rotational player and not just somebody who’s considered a prospect.”

Gansey has more time in his role and a longer list of contributions to his NBA team. This season, former Virginia star Joe Harris played 51 games with the Cavs in the regular season, but was with the Charge throughout the season and for all five playoff games. Center Alex Kirk was playing for the Charge before he was part of a trade that sent him to the New York Knicks. The Knicks waived Kirk and he re-signed with the Charge and helped in the playoffs.

In the 2013-14 season, the Charge produced five players who earned spots on NBA rosters, including former WVU all-American Kevin Jones. The team’s head coach and an assistant were called up by NBA teams, too. A year before that, Jones earned his first NBA call-up and the Charge had one league all-star while the head coach and an executive were promoted to NBA assignments.

“We have very similar taste in the guys we want,” West said. “I think we’re both very fortunate to have NBA organizations that do care about our league and want to use it as a tool and not just for show. They actually put money into it and realize it can be beneficial. The main thing about the D-League is you have to find a certain mix of talent and high character and young and veteran guys, and that’s something both organizations have done.”

(h/t sportsunbiased.com for the artwork)