NBA conference finals are a ‘changing of the guards’

Night night, Steph. Goodbye, Ky. See you, Jrue. Joker, Luka and Bron – gone. Dame pulled up lame, and Tatum is on a painful vacation.

If this column was written by ChatGPT it would say Father Time blah blah generational talents yawn. But I’m an old guy who still got a chopper and has been glued to the NBA playoffs since Patrick Ewing tricked off that Game 7 layup against the Pacers in ’95, so let’s say that what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Hailburton just did to the league is worse than what Marlo did to the Barksdales in The Wire. We are witnessing a changing of the guards – plural – in the NBA.

When Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder open the Western Conference finals tonight against Edwards and his Minnesota Timberwolves, consider the bangers on their 2025 playoff playlists: 

In the first round, Edwards dispatched the Lakers’ LeBron James, age 40, and Luka Doncic, 26 going on 36, adding injury to insult by sending James into the offseason with a sprained knee. Then Stephen Curry’s 37-year-old hamstring twanged out, 35-year-old Jimmy Butler took a nap and the Wolves sent the Warriors home. Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander outdueled the reigning best player in the world, 30-year-old Nikola Jokic, sealing Shai’s case for league MVP. (Speaking of which, was the NBA waiting to see who won that series to announce the MVP award? The mysterious timing seems more suspect than the draft lottery.)

Back east, Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers waxed the Bucks as Damian Lillard, 34, tore his Achilles. Then Hali broke out the legendary big balls dance and sent Donovan Mitchell (28 with a 38-year-old’s hairstyle) and the Cavaliers home. The Pacers tip off Wednesday against the Knicks and Brunson, who sent the defending champion Celtics into rebuilding mode by abusing the best perimeter defender in the league, 34-year-old Jrue Holiday, and leaving Tatum, 27 but with more mileage than any other player the past eight seasons, with his Achilles in pieces.

Brunson is 28. Haliburton is 25, Gilgeous-Alexander is 26 and Edwards is – yikes! – only 23. 

I don’t think these young thundercats are giving the league back to the OGs.

This past decade or two has been magnificent to watch. Curry and James redefined greatness, but their paths through the brutal Western Conference to another NBA Finals seem murky. Kyrie Irving reinvented how to hustle and flow with the rock, but when he returns from an ACL injury for the Dallas Mavericks at age 34 or 35, will he ever be the same? Lillard authored iconic “Dame Time” moments, but the party is over in Milwaukee.

Jokic remains incredible, and if Doncic ever gets in shape to last the whole playoffs he’ll be unstoppable. They are the bridge to this new era, and Luka might end up running it. But I’m a firm believer that the Best Player in the World is the best player still playing. Joker and Luka are on the sidelines for now, watching four young monsters do scary good things.

I love how their play styles are so different. Edwards is jumping over dudes one minute and shooting over them the next, and never stops running his mouth. It will be interesting to see how he performs this round, because he clearly got tired in last year’s conference finals loss to the Mavericks. Gilgeous-Alexander acts like the anti-Ant, exuding calm while slithering to his spots like a snake through weeds. I think Shai and his team are too much for Ant and OKC goes to the Finals. 

Brunson versus Haliburton is like thunder versus lightning. I can’t remember another small guy pounding and punishing defenders like Big Body Brunson. The way he dominated the fourth quarters against Boston, hitting big shot after shot, was proof that he deserved the Clutch Player of the Year award this season. Haliburton – so long and lanky that I wonder if he even lifts weights – flies all over the court flinging passes and flicking 3s. I’d love to see Brunson exorcise the ghost of Ewing’s Game 7, but I wonder how long he can keep making shots in a Knicks offensive scheme that just gives him the ball and clears out. The Pacers have multiple ways to win. The Knicks have Brunson, a certified dawg, and a cuddly KAT. Advantage: Pacers.

Sometimes history takes a turn that isn’t fully understood until later: Nas’ album Illmatic, OutKast’s Southernplayalisticadillacmusiz and Biggie’s Ready To Die all dropping in 1994. A photographer disappearing his photo of Senator Barack Obama and Minister Louis Farrakhan in 2005. Patrick Mahomes giving up baseball in 2015. Small moments that now echo loudly. 

As the NBA turns the pages of an era, how will we remember this chapter?

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