MikeCheck: Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals offers insight for Grizzlies, small-market contenders
Michael WallaceMEMPHIS – The NBA’s legacy players are nowhere to be found.
LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo, among others, have been noticeably absent from the NBA’s biggest stages for weeks in these playoffs. Those surefire Hall of Famers will be relegated to spectators for these NBA Finals.
Also missing are the league’s marquee markets and big brand franchises.
The bright lights illuminating from Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Miami are now redirecting the spotlight on a pair of middle America basketball hubs in flyover country.
In Oklahoma City and Indiana, the prudent narratives from these NBA Finals won’t be focused on erratic super max stars, luxury tax burdens, second-apron concerns, trade rumors or either team having to break up their core or fire their coach should they fall short.
What the Thunder and Pacers have brought to the Finals that start with Game 1 Thursday is a referendum of sorts on what should matter most to the NBA these days: Results and rings over ratings and relevance.
OKC and Indiana got here following a blueprint that could offer lessons to teams in similar markets or situations. Our Memphis Grizzlies are in that category and could learn from the respective paths the Thunder and Pacers traversed to become true title-contending franchises.
Glitz, glamour and gluttony aren’t the necessary or only paths to assembling a championship roster. The Thunder and Pacers are proven products of a different NBA ecosystem.
It’s one predicated on small-market franchises clearly defining their culture, developing their rosters over time, depending on clear leadership from the executive suite to the locker room, demanding accountability at every level and – ultimately – delivering in key moments.
There’s a ‘D-word’ strategically missing from those ingredients. Drama, particularly the self-induced variety that often gets in the way of accomplishing the primary goal. Although they bring uniquely different characteristics and playing styles, Oklahoma City and Indiana both check off many of those boxes and share plenty in common entering their matchup.
This will be a fresh blood NBA Finals. It should also be a welcomed sight to remind many of us of what we should appreciate most about the game: The actual game. One played by teams that share the ball, play at an entertaining pace, defend at a high level and relentlessly hustle, sacrifice and pursue every loose ball as if their careers depend on that possession.
The Thunder and Pacers both got here by doing all those things in spades.
OKC arrives as the juggernaut coming off a 68-win regular season that statistically ranked as one of the most dominant in NBA history. After sweeping the Grizzlies, outlasting the Nuggets in seven games and cruising past the Timberwolves, the Thunder are an overwhelming favorite to win their first NBA title in the OKC era of their franchise history.
The plucky Pacers took a different route, dispatching the wounded Bucks in the first round, upsetting the Cavaliers in the second and then conquering the Knicks along the way. If nothing else, Indiana should have earned the benefit of any doubt that they’ve got a shot against OKC.
The Pacers dismantled a 64-win Cleveland team that was every bit as dominant in the East during the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed as the Thunder were atop the West.
While OKC and Indiana may be two of the league’s smaller markets, they’re also two of the biggest winners at mastering what it takes to thrive in the modern NBA landscape.
They’ve drafted well. They’ve signed productive and fine-fitting free agents. They’ve made absolutely phenomenal trades to establish or augment a quality core. Most of all, they’ve remained healthy through the postseason gauntlet.
While some mock their respective fanbases for being corny or conservative, the Thunder and Pacers lean into their fan and franchise culture to embrace what makes them different.
And they’re led by dynamic stars with throwback demeanors who were once discarded.
It’s easy to forget that current league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was once a late lottery pick the Los Angeles Clippers eventually shipped with a ton of first-round picks in 2019 to OKC for Paul George. At the time, the Clippers thought P.G. would join Kawhi Leonard as the final pieces needed for L.A.’s title run.
How’d that deal turn out?
It’s easier to forget Tyrese Haliburton was sent off similarly from Sacramento to Indiana in 2022, largely because the Kings banked on De’Aaron Fox as the lead guard and sought roster balance.
How’d that deal turn out?
Neither George nor Fox are with the teams that made those fateful decisions. In fact, those once-preferred players as well as those two teams will join the rest of us as spectators watching SGA’s Thunder and Haliburton’s Pacers meet on the NBA’s biggest stage at the NBA Finals.
No, OKC and Indiana may never register highly on the league’s popularity metrics. The Thunder and Pacers don’t necessarily chase media ratings or define themselves by social relevance.
They reach the Finals as resilient testaments to what should matter most anyway.The pursuit of rings.
Published on Jun 04, 2025
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