During his latest podcast episode, LeBron James waxed poetically about this NBA Finals series, making a case for all basketball fans to watch.
The NBA Finals are the pinnacle of the basketball world. It’s the level every person who ever plays wants to reach, and the series every franchise is focused on winning.
This season, the NBA title will go to either the Indiana Pacers or the Oklahoma City Thunder. With both teams coming from small markets and featuring young stars who have yet to reach superstardom, it has caused a lot of chatter about ratings and conversation about everything but the game.
Lakers star LeBron James, however, has remained focused on the two teams that have emerged from each conference.
In his latest episode of the “Mind The Game” podcast, LeBron discussed how good these teams are and how happy he is to watch them play each other in these Finals.
“So we have this Indiana-OKC situation and these are two great teams. And if you are a basketball fan and you really love our game, you can learn so much from watching the way both of those teams play. Yes, I understand you have your favorite players, you have your favorite colors, or whatever the case may be that drags you to it.
And I understand. There is something about that. But if we’re just talking about the purity of the game and the sport, these are two teams that play the game the right way. And you love to see it.”
With Game 1 coming down to the final seconds and Game 3 being another close contest, these Finals have demonstrated why these two teams are head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA.
The last thing fans should be worried about is the Nielsen ratings. That’s a silly way to review how good a basketball series is. All that should matter, especially for basketball fans who have no direct interest in the result of these Finals, is whether the games are good or not.
So far, three games in, the NBA Finals have lived up to the quality fans should expect between two teams vying for a title.
Even if you have no rooting interest in either team, there’s a lot that can be learned from watching these NBA Finals for Lakers fans.
The Thunder and Pacers have interesting roster builds, characterized by depth, versatility and elite defenders at all positions.
Both rosters also include baby Lakers, with Alex Caruso on the Thunder and Thomas Bryant on the Pacers. So, a small silver lining for Lakers fans is that someone with ties to the franchise will win another title.
These are the last competitive basketball games we’ll be getting from the NBA for a while, so instead of harping on ratings or lamenting about logos being on the floor, fans should take LeBron’s advice and enjoy the elite hoops happening.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.