The Battle for the NBA Ring: Revenge of the Challenged

Play-offs NBA league enters the final stage, and it is already known that it will title to go where she has not been for a long time, or has never been.

In the conference finals (up to four wins), Oklahoma City leads 2:0 against Minnesota in the West. In the East, Indiana took a 2:0 lead against New York.

In this society, only New Yorkers can boast of the title, although they also achieved it for the last time in 1973.

The NBA succeeded in its intention to prevent the creation of "superteams" and increase competitiveness, as evidenced by the fact that this is the first time in the history of the league that in seven seasons the NBA will have seven different champions. Far more teams before the playoffs appear as potential champions, which was not the case before, but the outcomes and even the exact results of individual series could be easily predicted, and the biggest favorites usually went to the very end.

Since 1997-98, teams are 4-1,640 when trailing by 7+ in the final minute of the 4th quarter/OT in the playoffs.

The Pacers account for THREE of those wins.

ALL in these playoffs. pic.twitter.com/sxoB86slFJ

— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) May 22, 2025

Ahead of this season's playoffs, the most expected team was the reigning champions Boston Celtics, who were believed to have a slightly easier path to the finals, the highest concentration of quality in the rotation, and the valuable experience of winning a ring from the previous season.

The West looked crowded and impenetrable, so much so that the seventh-ranked Warriors seemed as dangerous as the second-ranked Rockets. The Nuggets had their share of problems off the court, the Lakers didn't have an adequate center, the Thunder seemed inexperienced, and the Clippers were like... well, the Clippers. All this caused us to face one of the most uncertain playoffs in recent history.

Change of generations

As usual, playoff games brought a lot of memorable moments, winning baskets, but also injuries, reversals, coaching tricks. The first-placed (Oklahoma City) Thunder, third-placed (New York) Knicks, fourth-placed (Indiana) Pacers and sixth-placed (Minnesota) Timberwolves placed among the four best teams.

The leaders of the league certainly want the New York Knicks in the finals, so that this legendary franchise - more by pop-cultural determinants and the great love of its loyal fans, than by results - would return to the grand finals for the first time since 1999, and thus increase the media presence and TV ratings of the NBA championship. The other extreme could be a collision between Oklahoma City and Indianapolis, two relatively small and uninteresting markets for big business, of which the NBA is certainly a part.

In addition to the stumbling of famous franchises, this season also brought us a new wave of young forces who stepped onto the biggest stage. Not even a year has passed since the Olympic Games in Paris, where the American basketball team had to sweat and work hard in order not to defeat Serbia, and then France.

In moments of crisis, the American national team was carried by players who marked basketball in the 21st century - Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. On the club level, however, the roses of these three legendary basketball players have not bloomed lately. The first was stopped in the second, the second in the first round of the playoffs, while the third was a member of the most disappointing team in the NBA this season (although his share of the blame is by far the least).

Not only was this season not successful for them, but neither were the previous ones - Curry won his last ring in 2022, LeBron in 2020, and Durant in 2018. In the meantime, the titles as the best players of their teams were won by Adetokumbo, Jokic, Leonard and Tatum, Harden, Embiid and Davis were among the best, while this year the time has come for a change of generations.

The four best teams in the NBA are led by Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Halliburton and Jalen Brunson. And while not all of them can be considered young, they all have in common that they were challenged and criticized on the way to star NBA heights, and that there were far more people who didn't than believed in their leadership abilities and championship potential.

Jaylen Branson

Two NCAA championships and a college basketball player of the year trophy weren't enough to get Jaylen Brunson higher than the 33rd pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA draft. He was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks, who saw in him the ideal player for the rotation in the outside line, in which high hopes were placed in Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith.

Photo: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

After all, many fantastic college players did not have great NBA careers, so many thought that Villanova's left-handed point guard, who is not even 1.90m tall, would be nothing more than a member of the rotation and support staff in professional basketball. Jalen, whose father Rick spent nine seasons playing in the NBA, was able to use the opportunities presented and show everyone that he is a player for big things.

In the first two seasons in Dallas, Branson established himself as a very correct solution from the bench who manages to adequately replace Luka Dončić when there is a need for it. After an injury to the Slovenian in Branson's fourth season, Jaylen is given a much bigger role, and he returns with fantastic plays in the 2022 playoffs. He was one of the main reasons for the Dallas Mavericks' placement in the finals of the Western Conference, and in that season he averaged almost 17 points and 5 assists.

It was known that he would be paid adequately in the summer and the only question was whose jersey he would wear next season. The Mavericks passed up a chance to sign him long term, believing he wasn't worth the $104 million over four years the New York Knicks gave him. Before that, the team from the Big Apple brought Branson's father to coach Tom Thibodeau's coaching staff, and the son soon followed in his father's footsteps.

In the next three seasons in New York, Jalen Branson became the main player of the famous franchise, an All-Star participant, fifth in the MVP voting, a member of the second best five in the league and the best player in the closing games. More importantly, the Knicks have become a relevant team again with him. Playoff basketball has been regularly played in the legendary "Madison Square Garden" since his arrival, and this season it seems that the team led by Branson could even reach the finals. They are currently fighting big battles with the Indiana Pacers and the "most overrated player in the league".

Tyrese Halliburton

Halliburton was selected with the 12th pick in 2020, in what was then billed as the weakest draft in recent history. As is usually the case with the draft, it takes some time to adequately evaluate a certain class, so now we know that the "class of 2020" is not bad at all - in addition to Halliburton, two of his teammates, Nismith and Toppin, as well as two members of the Timberwolves, Edwards and McDaniels, were selected in it.

Tyrese was picked up by the Sacramento Kings, who quickly became convinced of his skills. Already in the first season he averaged 13 points, and in the second he became a standard member of the first five. However, patience and strategic planning are not in the DNA of the Kings, who gave him up in the trade in which they received Domantas Sabonis, so Tyrese Halliburton found himself in Indiana, where he was welcomed with a wide embrace by the stumbling Pacers.

Right from the start of his stay in the most basketball-friendly state, it became clear that this was the perfect environment for Halliburton. Coach Rick Carlisle gave him a lot of freedom, and he reciprocated in the best possible way - he increased the number of points he scored and the number of assists he achieved, and he also had an incredibly low number of turnovers.

Photo: AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

The Indiana Pacers grew along with Halliburton, who was selected as an All-Star in the following two seasons, and the previous one was named the best assistant and a member of the third best five in the league. During the summer, he was also a member of the prestigious American national team, which managed to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, but with negligible performance and contribution.

This seemed to take a toll on his confidence, and a back injury certainly didn't help, so Haliburton didn't look like himself at the start of the season. His performance was in decline, as were the results of the Pacers, who were expected to improve on the previous season, which they finished in the Eastern Conference finals.

As the season progressed, Halliburton and Indiana played faster and better, collecting wins hard and finding their way to fourth place ahead of the playoffs. Somewhere near the end of the regular season, the American sports portal "The Athletic" conducted an extensive survey on numerous questions related to the NBA, and one of them was who is the most overrated superstar of the league. Current players participated in the survey, who concluded that the most overrated superstar in the NBA is Tyrese Halliburton.

This literally set Halliburton on fire, and for Indiana it was a godsend ahead of the playoffs, which the Pacers started with a convincing 4-1 win against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the next round, the first-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers were waiting for them, but they were eliminated by the same score. Eight wins in ten playoff games has sent the Pacers into a clash with the New York Knicks, who are also bursting with confidence after eliminating the reigning champions Boston Celtics.

The first game of the series between the Pacers and the Knicks, whose rivalry goes back to the last decade of the 20th century, saw an incredible turnaround by the visiting team from Indiana. The Pacers trailed by 14 with three minutes left, nine with a minute left and eight with 40 seconds left in the game, but managed to pull out the win in overtime.

It was Halliburton who led Indiana to them, albeit with a huge assist from Aaron Nismith, with a buzzer-beating shot that bounced high off the hoop and then back through it, breaking the hearts of a packed Madison Square Garden. This isn't Halliburton's first shot at a playoff victory this season, nor is it Indiana's first believe-it-or-not upset.

Anthony Edwards

Edwards was selected as the first pick in the aforementioned 2020 draft, allegedly one of the weakest. This guy's unreal physical predispositions and natural talent made him the first pick of the draft, but there were plenty of question marks surrounding his love for basketball.

Photo: AP Photo/Nate Billings

According to Edwards himself, he followed American football far more and would have preferred to play linebacker in the NFL, rather than being selected first overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the early days of his career, he was often criticized by analysts for his somewhat weaker decisions, basing the game on intuition and said talent, and less on studying the game and reading the opponent's defense.

In the meantime, he became the star of the movie "Hustle", in which he starred with Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangomez, showing that his talent is of enormous proportions and not limited to sports.

However, what is more important is that he is becoming a better basketball player, and Minnesota is becoming more competitive with him. He is decorated with enormous self-confidence, which also brings him into conflict with the older stars of the NBA league, towards whom he behaves brazenly and defiantly. All this is an inseparable part of Anthony Edwards as a basketball player who led his team to the finals of the Western Conference last season as well as this season. After eliminating the Denver Nuggets in last season's playoffs, many analysts, including those who once questioned his love for basketball, now saw him as a young Jordan.

That this is (still) far from the truth was shown to him last year by Doncic, and Gilges Alexander is currently demonstrating the same to him in the series with Oklahoma City. However, Edwards is the youngest of the four heroes of this text, and possibly the most talented. Time is working for him, and whether he will come close to the one he is compared to remains to be seen.

Shai Giljus Alexander

The current MVP of the strongest basketball league in the world, was chosen as the 11th pick in the 2018 draft. He was chosen by the Los Angeles Clippers, and already in the first season they could sense the huge potential of this guy.

Photo: AP Photo/Nate Billings

However, the Clippers wouldn't be the Clippers if they didn't blow something. Despite the strong opposition of then-advisor and great legend Jerry West, they gave up Shai Giljus Alexander in a big trade in which they got Paul George (from whom they will get next to nothing). Shy headed to Oklahoma City, where he will patiently work, train and improve for the next few seasons.

He got better and better every year, but the Thunder kept tanking, losing and collecting future draft picks. However, this franchise is in the safe hands of the great basketball mind of Sam Presti, who had a clear vision and knew what he was doing. The Thunder were growing, and at the same time, Shai Gilgeous Alexander was progressing as a player and as an NBA star.

He was chosen three times consecutively among the All-Star selection, and twice in the best five of the league. It all culminated this season when SGA took the title of the best scorer and the best player of the league. He achieved all this by leading his team to the best score in the league, first place in the West and a place in the conference finals.

In it, the Thunder are doing very well and practically have one foot in the grand final, which is a huge success for an extremely young team that only four years ago ended the season with only 24 victories.