The Oklahoma City Thunder prove time is just a construct
The Oklahoma City Thunder prove time is just a construct
The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to the NBA Finals, thanks to three young stars who've blossomed into something no one could have possibly anticipated. The team has two young guards who can attack the rim with reckless abandon and a tall, lanky forward with a bunch of guard skills at 7 feet tall.
The above paragraph is about the 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder, who reached the NBA Finals with an average team age of 25.7 years old. The two guards? Russell Westbrook and James Harden. The lanky forward? Obviously, Kevin Durant.
Here's Kenny Smith back in 2012 congratulating that team for making it all the way to the Finals.
"Everyone said they were too young. People said they weren't battle-tested and it wasn't time. But they proved them wrong. And, so now, we have the 2012 Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder," Smith said.
Replace 2012 with 2025 and you'd basically be able to use the same script.
Everyone said this Thunder team was too young to do anything serious. People immediately counted them out despite having the soon-to-be-MVP on the roster along with another All-Star running mate and the league's best defense. It didn't matter. The only thing people could see was this team's age.
Now, with an average age 24.7 years old, the 2025 Thunder are the new youngest team to make it to the NBA Finals since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, according to Yahoo! Sports.
The job isn't finished. We know what happened the last time the Thunder were here. LeBron James' Miami Heat finished their revenge tour for the 2011 Finals in Oklahoma City. The Thunder only won one game despite a brilliant series from Durant.
That's probably not happening again. Oklahoma City is the best team in the NBA this season by quite a bit. As of now, the Larry O'Brien trophy is theirs to lose.
But that's why we play the games. We'll see if they can finish their breakfast this time.
Dynasty calling?
The Panthers are headed back to the Stanley Cup Finals, folks. For a third consecutive year, Florida will be playing on the NHL's biggest stage.
The path there certainly wasn't easy. The Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Florida and, for a while, it seemed like Carolina's comeback attempt was real. Florida quashed all that with three goals in the second. Game 5 ended in a 5-3 win for Florida. The Prince of Wales Trophy returned home.
But they didn't touch it, though!
Florida touched the trophy two years ago and lost in the Cup Finals. They refused to touch it last season and won it all. What'll it be this season? We'll find out.
The Panthers are just the 7th team in the expansion era to make it to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, according to NBC. The last to do it was the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2020 through 2022 — they won two of those series.
We'll see if Florida can match them in a few weeks.
More CFB 26
The trailer for College Football 26 is here and, MY GOODNESS, it's electric.
Guys. A lot is going on in this trailer. But two of the coolest things I picked up on were:
Enter the Sandman is on the game now! Shoutout to you, Virginia Tech.
High school football seems to be back in the game for Road to Glory. That's fun.
Real coaches are in the game now. Spotted Marcus Freeman and Ryan Day in this. Freeman's shapeup is still sharp, even in video game form.
Last year's game was a blast. Hopefully, this year won't disappoint.
Quick hits: NBA Draft decisions ... Caitlin Clark is still in midseason form ... and more
— Here's Bryan Kalbrosky with seven fascinating players who decided to stay in the NBA Draft instead of going back to school.
— It turns out Caitlin Clark doesn't need to be in a uniform to complain about officiating. Here's Meg Hall with more.
— Cory Woodroof says Falcons fans should be hopeful for Michael Penix Jr.
— Stefon Diggs' latest boat controversy is, uh, fascinating. Charles Curtis has details.
— I don't know how I'd react to tearing my Achilles but I imagine it'd be much like this.
— Lane Kiffin and Paul Finebaum are such an incredible combination.
That's a wrap. Thanks for reading today. Peace. ✌️
This is For The Win's daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. This was Mike Sykes.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton lead fascinating 2025 NBA Finals MVP race Later this week, we'll finally dig into one of the more intriguing (and surprising?) NBA Finals matchups in recent memory. In one corner, you have reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's historically dominant Oklahoma City Thunder, who have only really been pushed this postseason by Nikola Jokić's Denver Nuggets. These great Thunder will enter the 2025 Finals with over a week's rest. Gulp. In the other corner, you have the scrappy Indiana Pacers, who few saw making a Finals run before they ripped out the New York Knicks' heart. Factor in the small-market aspect between Oklahoma City and Indianapolis, and I'm not really confident about what to expect in this series over the next few weeks. Nonetheless, while the Pacers have a chance to win it all after slaying multiple giants in the Eastern Conference, the Thunder are overwhelming favorites for a good reason. 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C Myles Turner (+20000) I'd be floored if Turner was Finals MVP in a Pacers win. Full stop. But that's not a knock on the 10-year veteran. Turner is one of the NBA's better stretch centers with a good 3-point shot on solid volume. He's a decent rim protector, too. Of course, we're talking about a role player here, but Turner is undoubtedly high-level. His persistence in Indiana has paid off. 5. C/PF Chet Holmgren Like Turner, I'd be shocked if Holmgren left these Finals with MVP honors. The second-year big man is a talented young player, but he still has a ways to go (and mature) before he's the veritable best player on the NBA's championship stage. With that said, Holmgren already has plenty of merits. He's an elite shot-blocker, a great rim-runner, and he also shoots well from the 3-point line at a decent clip. And who knows? Maybe Holmgren goes off in a few key Thunder wins and puts himself in this conversation. 4. SF Jalen Williams Williams is the first truly reasonable bet on this list for this year's Finals MVP. After all, the versatile two-way forward did qualify for an All-NBA team this year. As a great defender and proficient scorer, Williams is one of the few guys in this series who could break a game open on both ends of the court. Depending on who you talk to, he is the third or fourth-best player in these Finals, at worst. However, Williams remains a younger player who has struggled to consistently deliver on the offensive end during this postseason. Ultimately, that might be what keeps him from being a legit Finals MVP candidate. 3. PF Pascal Siakam As another All-NBA-caliber player, Siakam has been a revelation for the Pacers during these playoffs. The veteran forward and 2019 NBA champion had three games of at least 30 points during the Eastern Conference Finals en route to series MVP honors. On the whole in these playoffs, he's averaging roughly 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists with a true shooting percentage of 60.8. Those are exemplary numbers. Those are perfect contributions from a Finals team's No. 2 option. Siakam's path to Finals MVP is continuing this tear, while acting as an X-factor that Oklahoma City's defense has no answer for. It can happen. 2. PG Tyrese Haliburton If the Pacers go on to win the title, the clear choice for Finals MVP is Haliburton. Haliburton is the straw that stirs Indiana's drink. He is the floor general who makes the Pacers' offense hum. He's the leader and true talisman that the Pacers organization has been missing since the halcyon days of Reggie Miller. Haliburton will face a daunting individual matchup during this series, as the Thunder have more great perimeter defenders to throw at him than anyone else in the NBA. But if he can overcome this hurdle in a moment of glory for Indiana, it's hard to see another Pacers player winning Finals MVP. 1. G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander In the event of a Thunder victory, the reigning MVP in Gilgeous-Alexander will likely be the catalyst behind Oklahoma City's first-ever championship. He's just too good and too crafty to say otherwise. As an elite defensive team that thrives on live-ball turnovers, the Thunder aren't necessarily slouches in their half-court offense per se, but they do look a lot more mortal if Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't have it going. He is their coherent offensive engine in every fathomable way. In other words, Gilgeous-Alexander is way too important to the Thunder's general operation to assert anyone else should be the frontrunner for 2025 Finals MVP.
