Magic Johnson of Los Angeles Lakers and Isiah Thomas from Detroit Pistons duel in the 1988 and 1989 finals of the NBA, with a victory to each side. Since then, no decision from the US Basketball League has opposed two teams that had their shipowners as great protagonists.
This will take place again from this Thursday (5), when Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers will start the Best of Seven series that will define season 2024/25. Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the American Tyrese Haliburton are the stars of their respective teams and will lead them from position 1 of international basketball, the NBA “Point Guard”, the shipowner.
In the case of Haliburton, 25, his style even resembles that of the shipowners, who prioritized the pass to the throw. In an era in which the “point guards” are aggressive scorers, he seeks assists, an average of 10.1 per depart since his arrival in 2022. In the current playoffs, leads the statistics with 9.8.
“He is unique. There are even similar faces, but he is unique. He is a catalyst in the counterattacks, does a great job triggering his companions in a good pace and passes forward. And dynamic in pick-and-roll, knows how to make every pick-and-roll pass.
Tyrese is not Magic Johnson, but, as Daigneault noted, is really able to act at speed and has a good vision to find colleagues. Motor of the excellent attack of the Pacers, you know you will need to display your best level to erect the trophy that Magic has last raised almost four decades ago.
Since then, of course, there have been great shipowners. The Stephen Curry cracker, even far from the prototype of the traditional shipowner, was six finals with the Golden State Warriors. But in none of them had as a great rival a “point guard” – four of them, his main opponent was wing LeBron James.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, is not Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas or John Stockton. Play in position 1 and give your assists, but it’s like a creative scorer who stands out. Elected the best player of the championship – the award to the American is delivered based on performance in the classification stage – had an average of 32.7 points per game in the first phase, the largest in the league.
“He’s a guy who was born to be big. You can see. He has an attitude, a coldness, is unflated. He is a guy who knows who he is and has a lot of faith in himself,” said the coach who will try to go to the decision, Rick Carlisle. “It’s very difficult to score 30 points in a game. The more you do this for two years, without stopping.”
The small Oklahoma City and Indianapolis never celebrated an NBA title. Never, in this century, the trophy was played by two teams clearly led by shipowners. This starts to change this Thursday.
