OKLAHOMA CITY — David Stern was the NBA commissioner for 30 years. During that time, he handed the league championship trophy to representatives of eight franchises.
Stern’s successor, Adam Silver, is overseeing his 12th NBA Finals. And sometime in the next 17 days, when Silver hands over the O’Brien Trophy, either the Thunder’s Clay Bennett or the Pacers’ Herb Simon will represent the ninth different franchise to win the league championship.
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver is overseeing his 12th NBA Finals. Nate Billings, Associated Press
Parity indeed has come to the NBA.
“I remember when I first joined the league, David used to joke early on in his tenure, he said his job was to go back and forth between Boston and L.A. handing out championship trophies,” Silver said Thursday night in a pre-Finals press conference in the bowels of Paycom Center.
Now, the NBA has become an equal opportunity league. Starting with 2019, the NBA titles have been won by the Raptors, Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets and Celtics. The Thunder and the Pacers will be the seventh champ in seven seasons; never before has the 78-year-old NBA spread such wealth.
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The Friday ScissorTales explain why this is a Fort Smith Finals, show how far back go Indiana coach Rick Carlise and Thunder general manager Sam Presti, and compare OKC’s two NBA Finals teams. But we start with the league stance on the parity that has come to the league.
Silver opened his Finals press conference by pointing out the difference in the league when Simon and his brother bought the Pacers in 1983, compared to 23 years later, when Bennett and his partners bought the Seattle SuperSonics.
The NBA Finals were on taped delay in 1983. In 2008, when the Sonics moved to Oklahoma, Twitter and Google and Amazon had entered the NBA lexicon.
But Silver said that in 1983, 60% of the NBA titles had been won by two franchises. But in 2008, 65% of the NBA titles had been won by three franchises.
Silver said he credits a series of Collective Bargaining Agreements, first under Stern, and thanked the players for their foresight in seeing that every market designed an opportunity to compete for a title.
“We set out to create a system that allowed for more competition in the league, with the goal being having 30 teams all in position, if well managed, to compete for championships,” Silver said. “That’s what we’re seeing here.
“I’ve said before, the goal is that market size essentially becomes irrelevant.”
Silver said that if the Thunder-Pacers winner wins again next season, that’s not a blow to parity. Especially considering the market size.
“Fans in every city want to see their team be competitive,” Silver said.
He quoted Oklahoma City mayor David Holt, who pointed out the populations of OKC (some 700,000) and Indy (900,000).
“Mayor Holt I thought said it best,” Silver said. “Of the 19,502 cities, towns and villages in the United States, Oklahoma City is larger than 19,482 of them. Said differently, about 300 million Americans live in cities smaller than Oklahoma City and Indianapolis … that means that 88% of Americans live somewhere smaller than these cities.”
Silver saluted the way the Pacers and Thunder are run. Both have been highly-competitive, with few down years. And now they meet in a Finals that is a salute to NBA parity.
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Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, center, coached the 2011 Mavericks to a five-game conquest of the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, en route to Dallas’ NBA championship. Michael Conroy, Associated Press
Presti, Carlisle go way back
No matter how the Thunder fares against the Pacers, the NBA Finals figure to be a laborious couple of weeks. Courtesy of Rick Carlisle.
The Pacers coach is headed for the Basketball Hall of Fame — I assume he’s on his way; I know of no researcher capable of figuring out what the star chamber in Springfield, Mass, will do — and the Thunder knows well Carlisle’s tricks and trades. Carlisle coached the 2011 Mavericks to a five-game conquest of the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, en route to Dallas’ NBA championship, and Carlisle’s strategies were a major reason.
But the feelings are mutual. Carlisle appreciates the Thunder, namely in the form of general manager Sam Presti. Their paths crossed first 25 years ago, before Carlisle had coached any of his 993 regular-season wins or 83 playoff victories.
In 2000, Carlisle was out of a job. He had been a Larry Bird assistant in 1999-00, but Bird got out of coaching, and Isiah Thomas took over. Carlisle was not part of the Thomas coaching staff.
The San Antonio Spurs invited the then-40-year-old Carlisle to training camp. There, he met a young intern named Presti, who grew up in Greater Boston and remembered Carlisle from his three seasons playing for the Celtics.
“Miraculous to me,” Carlisle said. “Seemed like he was probably way too young for that. We had a couple of dinners together. He asked me, ‘what can I do? I got to somehow get a job out of this.’ I said, ‘just become a guy they can’t live without.’”
Now there’s a great descriptor of Presti, at least in his 19 seasons as general manager of Clay Bennett’s franchise.
“Sam is a great demonstration of resourcefulness and wherewithal and stuff like that,” Carlisle said. “He’s forged himself a great career. He and (Pacers GM) Kevin Pritchard are two of the best franchise builders around. This series should celebrate those two guys, their staffs, what they’ve done.”
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) and guard Cason Wallace defend Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam. OKC forced Indiana into 19 first-half turnovers Thursday. Julio Cortez, Associated Press
Mailbag: Thunder ‘25 vs. Thunder ‘12
The Thunder Western Conference championship has produced all kinds of debates. Like this one.
Joel: “Berry, caught most of your very interesting discussion on the Animal (radio) regarding how this year’s squad compares to the 2012 version (which also reached the NBA Finals). My thoughts: I think this year’s team is better and I’ll break it down this way. We’re looking at 2012 KD (Kevin Durant), Russ (Westbrook) and (James) Harden, none of who were what they’d become.
“Team cohesiveness: 2025 (one of the best all time in this category)
“Coaching: 2025
“KD v SGA: Wash (impact the game in different ways)
“Russ v JDub: Wash (impact the game in different ways)
“Chet v Harden: 2025
“Ibaka v Dort/IHart/Wallace/etc.: Wash
“Everyone else: 2025
“I think 2025 wins on 6.”
Berry: Excellent discussion. Let’s see. I wouldn’t disagree with much. Ibaka was a better fourth wheel than any current Thunder, but whoever we want to go with there (Dort, I guess), that just loads up the rest of the 2025 advantage. The 2012 bench was Derek Fisher, Thabo Sefolosha (who started, but Harden finished), Nick Collison. Good, not great. No Alex Carusos on that list.
I think 2025 in six is a good call.
Fort Smith Finals
Much is made, and rightfully so, of former Villanova teammates Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo spending three months together as Knicks teammates, and all but DiVincenzo remained teammates as New York reached the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
But is that any more remarkable than two teammates from Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, playing together on an NBA Finals team? The Thunder’s Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams were two years apart at Northside; Joe graduated in 2018, Williams in 2020. Both went to the University of Arkansas, but Joe entered the NBA the season Williams became a Razorback.
“Just being in this position with a guy like Jaylin is pretty cool,” Joe said. “Moments like this don’t happen too much.”
The season Joe and Williams played together, Northside lost in the Class 7A state championship game, after winning the Arkansas title the year before. The NBA Finals weren’t even a dream.
“Yeah, it never crossed my mind,” Joe said. “Now that we’re here, it’s a dope experience. I think it’s something that’s probably not going to hit until later in life. But it’s cool.”
Especially since the Finals opened Thursday night just 182 miles from the hometown of Joe and Williams.
“Born and raised there,” Joe said. “Always have to show love to the people that supported me along the way. Without my hometown, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today, wouldn’t be in this position. Any chance I get, all the love, I love to give back.”
The List: Busy Finals venues
Paycom Center figures to be quite busy in the coming days, hosting as many as four NBA Finals games in an 18-day span. But that’s nothing compared to what five buildings have gone through. All five hosted NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the same season. Here are the hectic buildings:
1. Boston Garden: 1957, 1958, 1974: In 1957, the NBA Celtics played at home on March 30, March 31, April 9 and April 13. The hockey Bruins played home games on April 11 and April 14. In 1958, the Celtics were finished by the time the Bruins played. But in 1974, Boston hosted the Celtics on May 3 and May 5, the Bruins on May 7 and 9, the Celtics on May 10 and the Bruins on May 16.
2. Madison Square Garden (New York) 1972, 1994: In ‘72, the NBA Knickerbockers hosted on May 3 and May 5, and the NHL Rangers hosted on May 4, May 7 and May 11. In 1994, the Rangers hosted on May 31, June 2, June 9 and June 14; the Knicks hosted on June 12, June 15 and June 17.
3. Spectrum (Philadelphia) 1980: The NBA 76ers hosted on May 10, May 11 and May 16, the NHL Flyers on May 13, May 15 and May 22.
4. Chicago Stadium 1992: The NHL BlackHawks hosted on May 30 and June 1, the NBA Bulls on June 3, June 5 and June 14.
5. Continental Airlines Arena (East Rutherford, New Jersey), 2003: The NHL Devils hosted on May 27, May 29, June 5 and June 9; the NBA Nets hosted on June 8, June 11, and June 13.
Tulsa World Sports Extra Show: Previewing the NBA Finals
Tulsa World Sports Extra Show: Welcome to the NBA Finals. Juwan Lee and Berry Tramel discuss the Oklahoma City Thunder's matchup against the Indiana Pacers.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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