MikeCheck: Thunder-Pacers Grizzlies, draw wisdom from NBA Finals

Philippi – No sign of the NBA’s all-time greats.  

There has been a noticeable absence on the NBA’s biggest stages for weeks in these playoffs, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, among many others. with the NBA Finals, the guaranteed Hall of Famers will have to settle with spectator status.

Big name franchises and the league’s most prestigious markets are also absent. Flyover nation is home to two basketball meccas that have recently had their attention redirected from the bright lights of L.A., NY, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Miami. The sensible accounts of these NBA Finals in Oklahoma City and Indianapolis will not center on the whims of wayward max players, the costs of luxury taxes, worries about the second-string players, trade speculations, or the possibility that either club may have to disband its core or dismiss its coach if they lose.

What the Thunder and Pacers have brought to the Finals, which begin with Game 1 on Thursday, is a vote on what the NBA should care about most these days: wins and rings over shows and importance.

OKC and Indiana got here by following a plan that other teams in the same market or position could use as a guide.

The Thunder and the Pacers both went through similar paths to become real title-contending teams, and the Memphis Grizzlies could learn from each other.

Glitz, glamour, and gluttony aren’t required or the only ways to put together a championship team. The Thunder and Pacers have both done well in the NBA, but they come from different NBA systems.

It depends on small-market teams clearly describing their culture, building their rosters over time, having clear leadership from the top down to the locker room, holding everyone accountable at every level, and, most importantly, delivering in key moments. It’s planned that those items don’t have a “D-word.” Drama, especially the kind that people make up on their own, can get in the way of reaching the main goal.

Although Oklahoma City and Indiana have very different personalities and ways of playing, they both check off a lot of those boxes and have a lot in common before their game.
The NBA Finals will be different this time around. A lot of us should also enjoy seeing it because it reminds us of what we should love most about the game: the game itself.
The kind of basketball where players share the ball, play quickly, defend well, and hustle, sacrifice, and go after every loose ball as if their careers rest on it.

Those are all things that both the Thunder and the Pacers did in huge amounts to get here. The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming in as the heavy favorites.

They just finished a 68-win regular season, which was statistically one of the best in NBA history. The Thunder are a huge favorite to win their first NBA title since becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder.

They beat the Grizzlies in three games, the Nuggets in seven games, and the Timberwolves with ease. Instead, the brave Pacers went a different way.

They beat the hurt Bucks in the first round, the Cavaliers in the second, and then the Knicks along the way. Indiana should have at least been given the benefit of the doubt that they have a chance to beat Oklahoma City. Cleveland had 64 wins and was the best team in the East during the regular season. To get the No. 1 seed, the Pacers beat them badly. The Thunder were the best team in the West.

It’s easier to forget that Tyrese Haliburton was sent from Sacramento to Indiana in the same way in 2022.
This was mostly because the Kings were counting on De’Aaron Fox to be their starting point guard and wanted to keep their squad balanced. What happened with that deal? George and Fox are not on the teams that made those terrible choices. In fact, those once-preferred players and those two teams will be watching the NBA Finals with the rest of us.

It will be the biggest stage in the NBA, and SGA’s Thunder and Haliburton’s Pacers will be playing. To be honest, OKC and Indiana might never be very loved in the league.
The Thunder and Pacers don’t always try to get high ratings from the media or describe themselves by how popular they are. They made it to the Finals by sticking with what should mean most.