A 'prahd' Pittsburgh dad: T.J. McConnell's father steals the show after being pulled into postgame interview

Chartiers Valley alum T.J. McConnell was one of the stars of Game 6 of the NBA Finals for the Indiana Pacers. But it was his father who stole the show during a postgame interview.

McConnell scored 12 points off the bench. The one-time Duquesne Duke shot 6 of 12 from the floor and added nine rebounds, six assists and four steals as Indy won Game 6 over the Oklahoma City Thunder by a final score of 108-91.

A decisive Game 7 will be played Sunday night in Oklahoma.

After the game, though, the spotlight found McConnell’s father, Tim. He was pulled onto the NBA-TV postgame set by Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas.

McConnell, who used to coach T.J., his brother (Matt) and his sister (Megan) at CVHS went full “Pittsburgh Dad” during the interview, launching into how “prahd” he was of his son and his daughter for both being in the NBA and WNBA at the same time.

“She’s with the Mercury, and I couldn’t be more proud to say, ‘I have a son in the NBA, and I have a daughter in the WNBA,’ ” McConnell said. “This is a dream come true. And I’m going to OKC for my son to play in a championship game to win the world championship.”

THIS MOMENT WITH T.J. MCCONNELL'S DAD ????

"I can't be more proud to say I have a son in the NBA and a daughter in the WNBA... this is a dream come true." pic.twitter.com/1ef0WiI8vj

— NBA (@NBA) June 20, 2025

Of course, McConnell couldn’t get off the set without a few coaching points for his son.

“Just disappointed he missed two foul shots in the beginning,” McConnell said. “I kept saying, ‘Man, I wish he had made those two foul shots.’ But he recovered, and we won the game, so I could forget about the foul shots.”

Thomas asked McConnell why he was harder on T.J. than he was with Megan when they were growing up.

“My daughter was an undefeated state champion. He lost in the state championship. We lost two games. So, undefeated …,” McConnell explained. “He played great, but we didn’t win it. The truth hurts.”

In 25 seasons as the CV boys coach, McConnell put together a 552-146 record with six WPIAL titles and 16 section wins. He had 662 wins in the WPIAL overall.

McConnell shook his head as his father soaked in the limelight.

“He finds a way to get everywhere,” McConnell sighed into the headset.

After high school, McConnell went to Duquesne before transferring to Arizona. Megan played at Duquesne as well, and Matt was an RMU Colonial.

McConnell has averaged 11.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 3.2 steals during the finals over the course of 19 minutes per game.