Charles Barkley believes a key change within the NBA Finals nearly value the OKC Thunder the NBA championship.
Whereas followers weren’t initially enthused with the groups concerned within the NBA Finals, it’s exhausting to argue that we didn’t get some good basketball from the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder and Indiana Pacers.
Regardless that rankings for the NBA Finals have been down by historic margins, the unbelievable degree of competitors between the 2 sides made for glorious viewing for many who did tune in.
Ultimately, regardless of some hurdles, the OKC Thunder vanquished the Pacers in seven video games to win a franchise-first NBA championship.
However Charles Barkley believes the Thunder have been shut to creating a mistake that would have value them the title, a mistake followers hadn’t seen for the reason that phrases ‘We Imagine’ echoed by the streets of Oakland.
Charles Barkley was a visitor on Invoice Simmons’ podcast lately, the place he mentioned the 2025 NBA Finals, and why he disagreed with Mark Daigneault altering the OKC Thunder’s lineup.
He believes that disrupting a beginning lineup in a playoff sequence to regulate to a different crew by no means works out. Barkley pointed to Avery Johnson and the 2007 Dallas Mavericks, who tinkered with their lineup to fight the undersized Golden State Warriors.
This resolution from Nelson led the Mavericks to be eradicated within the first spherical regardless of them being the #1 seed and the Warriors being the #8 seed.
“The one time I assumed they have been going to lose was when [Mark Daigneault] switched up the beginning lineup. I used to be like, ‘What the hell is he doing?’
“The one different particular person I noticed do one thing that silly was Avery Johnson. We have been sitting within the studio that night time, like, ‘What simply occurred proper right here?’
“Avery Johnson modified up his beginning lineup to go towards Don Nelson’s small ball. Why would you do this? You’re the primary seed, and you alter up.
“When [Daigneault] did that this 12 months, I used to be like, ‘What the hell!’ Then they ended up dropping Recreation 1. They blew them out in Recreation 2, but it surely didn’t matter as a result of they acquired the break up. Then [the Pacers] received Recreation 3, and he lastly went again to his monumental lineup.
“Yo man, you don’t change a factor whenever you’ve acquired the most effective crew. You’ve been the most effective crew within the NBA all season. Don’t do this once more. You nearly value your crew the championship.”
Whereas Charles Barkley makes a powerful argument concerning the OKC Thunder altering their lineup, in actuality, Mark Daigneault had little or no say within the matter.
The Indiana Pacers have been effectively ready for the Thunder and successfully pressured the Thunder into making these adjustments to remain aggressive.
If something, the sequence did come right down to a lineup change, however not the one Barkley is referencing. Rick Carlisle claimed changing Tyrese Haliburton from the Pacers’ lineup in Recreation 7 value them the title.
It’s exhausting to say whether or not the Pacers would have received Recreation 7 if Tyrese Haliburton hadn’t gotten injured. They’d gotten off to a really sturdy begin, however the Thunder’s defensive effectiveness was simply too good within the second half.
