Last week the NBA Finals have finally came to an end and the Oklahoma City Thunder are your 2025 NBA Champions. We had a lot of storylines throughout this back and forth seven game series. This year’s Finals was a little different than years past, we had two “small” market teams from Oklahoma City and Indiana to start. That being said both of these fan bases really created some of the best “Finals” atmospheres I have watched in quite awhile even though home court did not really matter until the final game. Also, this series had the best defense in the league (Thunder) going up against one of the best fast paced offensive teams in the NBA. However, it was not all good, we had one of the NBA’s young future superstars go down with a calf injury in Game 5 which turned into a serious injury in Game 7 but we will talk more in depth about that later in this article. Speaking of this article, we are just going to talk about some key points in this year’s NBA Finals and my overall opinions/thoughts so lets stop wasting time and get right into breaking these Finals down through the eyes of each team. 

First let’s put the goggles on and get ready for the champagne bath while we look back at the Oklahoma City Thunder team that earned this franchises first title. What a great time to be a Thunder fan, you have a young talented team, you have the leagues MVP and Finals MVP, and you won your first title for Oklahoma City. I personally like seeing teams built like the Thunder have success and win championships, they built through the draft, traded for a superstar in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and veterans, and found a young great minded coach to lead the team. Everything from ownership down to the concession workers are bought in for this team which is all you can ask for especially in a “small” market. The best thing about this team is that they actually play defense in a league that definitely does not have a lot, but they are/were the best defensive team in the NBA this year which technically goes to show defense wins championships. FYI, it also helps to have the league MVP on the team as a leader. SGA put on a clinic during the regular season, playoffs, and Finals. He ended up averaging 30.3 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.6 rebounds in the 7 game Finals all while being 26 years old. Along side SGA you also had Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams completing the Thunder “big 3” these two also were no slouches throughout the regular season, playoffs, and Finals. Holmgren ended up averaging 12.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks while Williams averaged 23.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in the 7 game Finals. You would think with all these young players that attitudes would be a problem, not so much, this team is one of the most mature teams for being so young I have seen in a while. They do not care who the leading scorer is any given night, they do not have egos, and they all just want to win (which is what it is all about). I absolutely love this Thunder team and hope their success continues while keeping this young core together. If that happens, the NBA better watch out because we may have our next dynasty starting and looks like they may be here to stay. 

Unfortunately, while it’s all happiness and excitement for one team that means there is another team that suffers a heartbreaking loss. This year the Indiana Pacers are that team coming up short in game 7 against the Thunder. The Pacers had one of the more unpredictable runs to the NBA Finals I have witnessed in a long time. One time during the regular season we were not sure if the Pacers would even make this year’s playoffs let alone be in the Finals, however they started getting hot and stringing some wins together at the right which ultimately landed them a spot in the Finals. Like the Thunder, the Pacers also have a young superstar in Tyrese Haliburton who also had a miraculous run through the playoffs and Finals.  Haliburton had some running mates like Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner, Obi Toppin, and others. I would not classify the Pacers having a “big 3” just yet, however they definitely have the start of one with Haliburton and Siakam. I would bet this offseason they may look for or try and develop someone on the roster to become that third player to join Tyrese and Pascal. As far as the Pacers coach, I think they have this right, Rick Carlisle is one of those old school, hard nose coaches but he changed his go to strategy to fit this team and wow did it work! Their offense was so fast and amazing to watch when they were clicking mixed with the confidence in his players this is just the start of something great in Indiana. Al that being said, we had some catastrophic injury happen (technically started in game 5) in game 7 where Haliburton went down with a torn achilles in the first quarter of game 7. 

He came into the game banged up with a calf strain but after starting off the game hot he came down the floor and made a cut and you could see that tendon pop and it was all over. You could feel and see the hopelessness on the Indiana fans and team when their superstar was getting helped off to the locker room. The team tried to hold their own but unfortunately the Thunder were too much for the Pacers. I have an opinion about the injury to Haliburton. People say you can’t let him play, you have to save him from himself blah blah blah. I can see that point and somewhat agree given the circumstances, however you tell a superstar player to not play in the NBA Finals and sit out I can assure you that will not go over well. I feel, it is up to the player I mean its the last games of the year and you are playing for a championship if the player could help the team’s winning percentage just a little I say go for it and let them play. I get now he is done for next year, but you never know when you will be getting back to the Finals to compete for a championship so I stand with Haliburton and the Pacers for letting him play. Looking through the lens of the Pacers, I think they are going to be just fine they have their superstar players in Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, they have a great nucleus of young and veteran players, they have a great leader in Rick Carlisle, and their fan base is absolutely incredible. Cheers to the Indiana Pacers you battled through a lot of adversity to get to the Finals and held your own against a heavily favorite and took them to a game 7 to have a chance at a championship. That is all you can ask for every year, and do not worry the Pacers will be back. 

In conclusion, I just want to mention a little side bar topic I saw when Haliburton went down with the achilles injury. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not only went over to Haliburton to check on him while he was on the floor when it happened but after the game and celebration SGA went into the Pacers locker room and spent time with Haliburton. I do not care what anyone says, that is pure class from SGA. Athletes are humans too, yes competitiveness belongs in sports between the lines and yes you may not always like the opponent off the court but when another player goes down with a serious injury that is how the you respond. I hope the sports media people point that out so all the young players in the world can see that if a MVP superstar athlete can react to a situation like that on the highest level in the most important game than they can act the same way. Shoutout to you SGA I give you all the props in the world and proud that the NBA’s MVP and young superstar has that attitude. 

It was a great Finals with two teams that were not the main stream teams, from a small market, and was taken to a game 7 as fans what more could we ask for as the NBA season finale. Oh yeah, Congratulations to the Oklahoma City Thunder!