The NBA Finals tip off tonight between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, and it should have interest from the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are one of three teams to suffer the fate of their season ending at the hands of the Thunder in the Western Conference playoff bracket.
The NBA Finals participants have a lot of similarities with Memphis as young star guards lead both teams in Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Also, both teams are ranked in the bottom 10 of market sizes in the NBA, along with the Memphis Grizzlies. However, other stats will interest the Grizzlies even more as they begin the process to construct their team to make it to the NBA Finals in the future.
This will be the seventh consecutive year of a new champion
The NBA has reached new heights this season, as a new champion will be crowned for the seventh consecutive season, for the first time in league history. While Oklahoma City feels like it has the makings of becoming the NBA's next dynasty, the Boston Celtics thought like that after last season's championship victory. They eliminated in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs by the New York Knicks this season.
Following the Golden State Warriors' three championships in five-year run that included back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, the league hasn't had a team to even make back-to-back finals appearances since then. Only a few teams have made multiple finals appearances since 2018, and those teams are the Warriors, Celtics, and Miami Heat.
A first time champion will be crowned for the third time since 2019
The Toronto Raptors stopped the Warriors dynasty from winning the NBA's first three-peat since the 2000-02 Los Angeles Lakers in 2019. That NBA Finals victory also marked their first ever championship in the franchise's history, in their first appearance in the finals. The Denver Nuggets followed suit in their 2023 championship run with their first title in franchise history, in what was also their first NBA Finals appearance.
Both finals teams this year would secure their franchise's first ever championship in the modern era. Oklahoma City made a finals appearance in 2012, their first since moving from Seattle in 2008. The Seattle SuperSonics did win a championship in 1979, which is technically part of the Thunder's history for the time being.
The Indiana Pacers are making their second NBA Finals appearance and are also seeking their first title after losing to the Lakers in the 2000 finals. The Grizzlies have plenty of recent examples of teams they can look at to accomplish their franchise's first championship in the near future.