'You'd celebrate this in the Super Bowl': Adam Silver praises NBA's bold shift from superteams as Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers chase first-ever title
Image via David Dow/ Getty Images
With the 2025 NBA Finals tipping off Thursday night in Oklahoma City, a unique storyline has taken center stage — two small-market franchises are battling for the championship, and league commissioner Adam Silver is embracing the moment.
The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder aren't just unexpected contenders — they're a reflection of the NBA's shifting power structure. As the era of superteams fades, Silver believes this evolution was no accident but the result of purposeful changes made to level the playing field.
Image viaAdam Silver praises
NBA parity
, says league's built for every team as small markets rise
During a Wednesday appearance on
Breakfast Ball
, NBA commissioner
Adam Silver
addressed the league's evolving landscape, using the Pacers-Thunder Finals as a case study in what he calls intentional progress.
'If we were going into a
Super Bowl
and it was
Packers
vs.
Steelers
, you guys would celebrate that,' Silver said, drawing parallels between how fans perceive smaller NFL markets compared to the NBA. 'People wouldn't talk about Pittsburgh being a small market.'
Image via X
Silver's comments came just ahead of Game 1 between the
Oklahoma City Thunder
and
Indiana Pacers
, two franchises chasing history. The Thunder are eyeing their first NBA title since moving from Seattle in 2008, while the Pacers are still searching for their first championship since joining the NBA after winning three ABA titles.
'When you look at where the league is today, the depth of competition, it's no coincidence,' Silver noted. 'It's been intentional to create a CBA that allows more teams to compete.'
Over the past seven seasons, the NBA has crowned seven different champions, from first-time winners like the
Toronto Raptors
(2019) and
Denver Nuggets
(2023), to the
Milwaukee Bucks
breaking a 50-year drought in 2021, to dynasties like the
Golden State Warriors
(2022) and storied franchises like the
Boston Celtics
(2024) and
Los Angeles Lakers
(2020).
Despite occasional chatter about potential ratings dips, Silver is optimistic. 'At the end of the day, we are a league of relatively small markets,' he said. 'The goal is to have a league where every team is in position to compete.'
Image via X
He pointed out that this spring's playoffs included the most-watched NBA game of the season, underscoring the league's robust health ahead of its new $76 billion media rights deal with Amazon, Disney, and Comcast.
Also Read:
LeBron James raves about Tyrese Haliburton ahead of Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Finals for first-ever NBA title
As Oklahoma City and Indiana prepare for Game 1 of the Finals, Silver's message is clear: this matchup isn't a step back — it's a glimpse of the NBA's future. In that future, competitive balance isn't a hope — it's the plan. And with two small-market teams on the league's biggest stage, that plan looks like it's working.
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