We’re just a few short days away from the beginning of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
This year’s championship matchup features the Florida Panthers going to battle with the Edmonton Oilers.
It’s a rare rematch of last summer’s Final, and if this year’s series is anything like last year’s, hockey fans will be quite pleased when the Cup is eventually awarded.
The seven-game extravaganza saw the Panthers take a 3-0 series lead, in convincing fashion, only to get punched in the mouth by Edmonton three straight games to force the winner-take-all matchup in Sunrise.
Game 7 turned out to be an all-timer, and the fact that Florida was able to clinch their first ever Stanley Cup on home ice was something special.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll find out if this year’s series comes anywhere close to being as fun, entertaining and drama filled as the ’24 Final.
As we continue counting down to Game 1, which is set for Wednesday night at 8 p.m. from Edmonton, let’s take a trip down memory lane.
When you can spare a few minutes, check out the Stanley Cup Final mini movie below. You won’t regret it.
Photo caption: Jun 24, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov (16) defends against Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) during the first period in game seven of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images_
For the third year in a row, the Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Final. Earlier in the 2024-25 season, the Chicago Blackhawks made a deal with them to help them reach this point.
Chicago sent Seth Jones to Florida in a big trade that landed them a young starting goalie and first-round pick. Since then, after struggling on a rebuilding Blackhawks team, Jones has been an impressive player in a reduced role with Florida.
He isn’t the only former Blackhawks defenseman playing well for the Panthers these days. Part of the reason that Jones has a lesser role in Florida is because of Gustav Forsling's presence. The Blackhawks misjudged his potential as poorly as any player this century.
Before the Blackhawks, Forsling was a member of the Vancouver Canucks as a prospect. Ahead of getting the chance to make his NHL debut, they traded him to Chicago for Adam Clendening.
On June 24th, 2019, the Blackhawks then traded Forsling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the deal that landed them Calvin de Haan. It was an attempt to win in the moment, but giving up on a 22-year-old defenseman with a lot of promise is never a good idea.
The Hurricanes, who evaluated Forsling even worse than the Blackhawks, had him only in the AHL before putting him on waivers. During his age-24 season, 2020-21, it was the Florida Panthers who claimed him.
In Sunrise, Forsling became one of the ten best defensemen in the National Hockey League. On a team with multiple studs on the blue line, he stands out above them all in almost every game.
Forsling has played in four full seasons with Florida now, and he has 10+ goals and 30+ points in all of them. All of that comes while being as incredible defensively as any player in the league. He came in 9th for the Norris Trophy last season and should have an even higher finish for his efforts in 2024-25.
After winning the Stanley Cup last spring, the Panthers have a chance to do it again. Forsling is as big a reason that they are here as any player on the roster. To be able to shut down opponents while posing a threat offensively, the way that he does it is as good as it gets in the NHL.
Since making this mistake, the Blackhawks have stacked their farm with great young defensemen, but it would be nice to have a 28-year-old Forsling at the top of the lineup to help guide them. Kyle Davidson must do what he can to keep that from happening to the franchise again soon.
Writers bemoaned Inter’s ‘climax of suffering’ in Munich but saved their harshest words for Simone Inzaghi
On the front pages of Italy’s newspapers, the Champions League final was told as a “nightmare”, a “humiliation”, and a “rout”. Tuttosport at least found room for humour with a “DisIntergrated” pun. La Stampa, in deference to the victors Paris Saint-Germain, went instead with a French phrase: “La débâcle”.
Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani, left, watches the flight of his a solo home run in the first inning as Yankees pitcher Max Fried, center, reacts. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Shohei Ohtani was about halfway through his home-run trot when Taro Abe stood up from his second-row seat in the Vin Scully Press Box and tucked his green scorebook under his right arm.
“Let’s go,” Abe said in Japanese.
Abe, a writer for Japan’s Chunichi Sports newspaper, was followed into the concourse of Dodger Stadium’s suite level by four other reporters from his country. They were on a mission: Find the person who caught Ohtani’s home-run ball.
There was nothing special about this blast, which was Ohtani’s second on Friday in an eventual 8-5 victory over the New York Yankees. The homer was Ohtani’s 22nd of the season and reduced the Dodgers’ deficit at the time from three to two.
“We have to do this every time,” Abe said.
This practice started a couple of years ago, when Ohtani was still playing for the Angels. The appetite for Ohtani content was insatiable in Japan, but the two-way player started speaking to reporters only after games in which he pitched. Naoyuki Yanagihara of Sports Nippon and Masaya Kotani of Full Count figured out a solution for their problem: They started interviewing the fans who caught his home-run balls.
The feature was received well by their readers and gradually spread to other publications. Now, besides the homers that land in bullpens or any other place inaccessible to fans, a group of Japanese reporters will be there to interview the person who snagged the prized souvenir.
Neither Yanagihara nor Kotani was on this particular journey into the right-field pavilion, as Yanagihara was temporarily back in Japan and Kotani remained in the press box. Both of their publications were represented by other reporters. I was there too.
One of the reporters, Michi Murayama of Sports Hochi, looked at me curiously.
“You’re coming?” she asked.
Abe joked: “He’s coming to write how ridiculous the Japanese media is.”
As we walked down a carpeted hallway by the suites down the first-base line, Abe turned around and asked if anyone had seen who caught the ball.
No one had.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hit a pair of home runs off Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Before departing from the press box, reporters usually study replays of the homer to find identifying features of the ballhawk. But in this case, the scramble for the ball was obscured by a short barrier that divided a television cameraman from the crowd.
Abe led the pack out of an exit near the Stadium Club. When we re-entered the ballpark at the loge level, we heard a familiar chant: “Fre-ddie! Fre-ddie!”
The reporters stopped to watch the game from behind the last row of seats. Freeman doubled in a run to reduce the Dodgers’ deficit to one, and pandemonium ensued. A young woman clutching a beer danced. Strangers exchanged high-fives. Others performed the Freddie Dance.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone removed Max Fried from the game, and called Jonathan Loáisiga from the bullpen. It was time for us to move on.
Seniority heavily influences professional and personal interactions in Japanese culture, which was why when we reached the top of the right-field pavilion, the two-most-junior reporters were told to find the ball-catching fan and return with him. Iori Kobayashi of Sports Nippon, 25, and Akihiro Ueno of Full Count, 27, accepted their fates without question.
However, the veteran Murayama noticed they weren’t making any progress, and soon she was in the middle of the pavilion with them. She came back soon after to tell us we were in the wrong place.
“We have to go down to the Home Run Seats,” she said, referring to seats directly behind the right-field wall that are in a separate section as the rest of the pavilion.
The ushers there were helpful, describing how the ball struck the portable plastic wall behind the cameraman, rolled under the barrier, and was taken by a boy in a gray jersey. Murayama found the boy and said he would speak to the group when the inning was over.
“They usually come after the inning because they want to watch the game too,” Abe said.
While we waited, Eriko Takehama of Sankei Sports approached Abe and showed him a picture of a fan holding up a piece of the plastic wall that was struck by Ohtani’s homer. The piece had broken off, and the fan told Takehama that he was taking it home.
“Do you want to talk to him?” Takehama asked Abe. “He said he caught a ball three years ago.”
Abe declined.
While watching Max Muncy taking first base on an intentional walk, Abe said, “Everyone has a story. You ask them where they live, where they work and there’s usually something interesting. We’re writing human-interest stories with Ohtani as a cover.”
This story would be about a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Monrovia named Fisher Luginvuhl. With his mother standing nearby, the Little League catcher gushed, “It’s like the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
The reporters circled the boy and photographed him holding up the ball. They exchanged numbers with Luginvuhl’s father so they could send him links to the stories they produced.
While the reporters worked together to locate Luginvuhl, they were also in competition with each other to post the story first. Murayama wrote hers on her phone as she walked. Ueno sent audio of the six-minute interview to the Full Count offices in Japan, where the recording was transcribed by an English-speaking reporter, who then used the quotes to write a story.
Walking to the right-field pavilion and back was exhausting. I mentioned this to Abe, and he reminded me, “This was my second time doing this today.”
Abe wrote 13 stories on Friday night, 10 of them about Ohtani, including two on fans who caught his homers.
Just as we returned to the press box, the next hitter was announced over the public-address system: “Shohei Ohtani!”
The Savannah Bananas' Dakota Albritton greets fans outside Angel Stadium on Friday while standing on stilts. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
In a region where baseball is king, the long-awaited rematch of last year’s World Series between the Dodgers and Yankees is unfolding. Ohtani. Judge. Two of the game’s best, facing off once more.
But just down the 5 Freeway in Anaheim, the home of Disney, the hottest ticket in baseball this weekend belongs to a stilted pitcher, juggling infielders and a yellow-suited, top hat-wearing carnival barker.
For back-to-back nights, more than 45,000 fans packed the Big A to see the Savannah Bananas — a team born from a small-time collegiate summer team that became a tour de force that has forever changed baseball. It was one stop during the Bananas’ most audacious barnstorming effort since their baseball traveling show hit the road just a few years ago.
The Savannah Bananas celebrate amid confetti after beating the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
These tickets were only available through a lottery — reserved months in advance. And when they went on sale, all were gone in an instant. The only way in was through the resale market, where just hours before first pitch on Friday, the lowest price (fees and taxes included) for a pair of tickets on StubHub was $209.52.
Meanwhile, two lowest price StuHub tickets for the Dodgers versus Yankees game were available for $171.72.
All for the sake of “Banana Ball.”
This baseball game is a ballyhoo. One rooted in the thrills, energy and pageantry of early 20th-century carnivals, but with a 21st-century twist — the atmosphere of a TikTok reel brought to life. It’s the showmanship of Ringling Brothers Circus combined with the athletic flair of the Harlem Globetrotters.
But above all, it’s a brand built on Walt Disney’s blueprint— not just to entertain, but to make the audience feel.
“When you look at all the touch points — the joy, the fun, the dancing, the celebrating — and think about all the different stages, just like Walt, we think about all the stages: from the parking lot to the plaza, to the upper deck, to the dugouts,” said Bananas owner Jesse Cole, the man in the top hat. “How do we make someone feel something?”
Instead of lounging in a cushy, air-conditioned owner’s suite, Cole is in the dugout hours before showtime — a Disney-like archetype, his energy as vibrant as his layered, all-yellow suit, braving the afternoon heat.
Savannah Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole leads the crowd in a cheer as his team takes on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
“Nonstop,” Cole said, describing Banana Ball in a nutshell. Refusing to sit, not wanting to lose an ounce of edge, he added, “It’s all about energy. We want to give people energy, delivering it every second, from the moment we open the gates at two o’clock until the last fan leaves at 11.”
While gates opened at 2 p.m., fans began arriving as early as 11 a.m. — clamoring for a shot at Banana-themed merchandise, many leaving the team tents with bags in both hands. In the parking lot, two young boys passed the time playing catch, gloves in hand.
As the afternoon wore on and the temperature climbed to 91 degrees, crowds trudged through the heat, some seeking refuge beneath the oversized Angels helmets at the stadium entrance, all for a chance to meet their favorite Banana Ballers. At the pregame plaza party, fans collected autographs, posed for photos and presented handmade gifts to players.
Savannah Bananas mascot Split marches through the crowd before the team's game against the Firefighters at Angel Stadium Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
When the gates opened, the LaCaze family pointed out their 9-year-old daughter’s favorite player, David “DR” Meadows. Decked out in her signed Meadows jersey, Carrigan LaCaze ran into his arms, with glove and oversized baseball clutched tightly and began speaking with him as if they were old friends.
“I ran to DR, and we started hugging and just started talking for a while because I missed him,” Carrigan LaCaze said. “Tomorrow is actually one year on the dot since I met him.”
A Christmas road trip planned around the holidays, the family of four traveled across three states from their home in Alexandria, La., to Anaheim for two reasons: to visit Disneyland and see the Bananas. It was their second game — the family first saw the Bananas in the club’s hometown of Savannah, Ga., when Carrigan, who is battling cystic fibrosis, was granted a Make-A-Wish experience so meaningful it was a no-brainer to relive it.
“It’s great,” her father, Pierre LaCaze, said of the player interactions. “We've gotten to keep track with some of them during the course of the year. We come back, we see them again. You know they’re truly about the fans.”
Rainer Easton, 11, tries to catch a yellow "Banana Ball" from the stands before the Savannah Bananas take on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
The Bananas don’t sell tickets. They sell connections, moments and memories.
For Cole, meetings are a constant brainstorming session on how to keep fans engaged and interacting. That’s how he measures success. He says when the focus shifts to transactions, the game begins to lose its meaning.
“Our success is not judged by revenue,” Cole said. “It’s not judged by sales. It’s judged by the moments we create.”
But the numbers don’t lie.
The last time the Bananas came to Southern California, they played in front of 5,000 fans at LoanMart Field in Rancho Cucamonga in 2023 — a far cry from now selling out 18 major league ballparks and three football stadiums with capacities over 70,000.
Fans fill the stands as the Savannah Bananas take on the Firefighters in front of a sold out crowd Friday at Angel Stadium. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Attendance has soared year after year. Last season, the Bananas drew one million fans. This year, that number is expected to double, with more than three million people on the waitlist for their ticket lottery. Every game since February has sold out and every date in June and July is as well.
Michael and Melinda Schulteis, a husband and wife from Mission Viejo, were there the last time the Bananas came to town. When they heard the team was returning, they knew they couldn’t miss it.
“The intimate atmosphere at the last event was great,” Melinda Schulteis said. “But I’m curious, because they do such a good job putting on events, what touches are they going to add to still keep it close and intimate and give us another great experience?”
As the Bananas’ success and reach have grown, spilling out from cozy minor league parks into stadiums not built for intimacy, the games still feel like family gatherings. Whether serenading players with stadium anthems like Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer” or the waving of phone lights to Coldplay’s “Yellow,” the crowd moves in sync, no matter the tune.
While they’re a privately owned team and don’t disclose revenue figures, they’ve confirmed generating millions. Much like their box office appeal, their social media reach extends into the millions as well.
The Savannah Bananas perform a kick line before taking on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Their antics — choreographed dances, lip-synced walk-ups, backflip outfield catches — have attracted nearly 10 million followers on TikTok, almost double the combined total of the Dodgers and Angels. That viral mastery, and the parasocial bonds it fosters, is part of what makes every game feel tight-knit.
With his glove by his side, hoping to catch a foul ball for an out — one of the many offbeat rules of Banana Ball — Michael Schulties was disappointed he missed his favorite player, RobertAnthony Cruz, whom he first discovered on social media through his baseball coaching channel, better known as “Coach RAC.”
Cruz, who drew the longest meet-and-greet line, is a former minor leaguer in the Nationals’ farm system and a local — born just an hour away in Fontana. The game was a homecoming for Cruz, who joined the Bananas in 2023.
With more than 70 family members and friends in attendance — and even more social media direct messages asking for tickets — playing in big league stadiums has become a dream come true, especially for a former minor leaguer whose baseball ambitions nearly died when he never got the call to the show.
Savannah Bananas pitcher Correlle Prime delivers at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Behind all the gimmicks, wackiness and absurdity, the roster is still filled with ballplayers — many of them with unrealized MLB dreams — now finding a second life through Banana Ball. And for Cruz, it’s the happiest he’s ever been in the sport.
“I never would have imagined playing in this capacity,” Cruz said. “Banana Ball didn’t even exist when I was pursuing my dream of professional baseball. To be here, to see a sold-out crowd at a stadium that I went to growing up all the time, it's very special.”
As the team travels the nation, sold-out crowds and newfound stardom have become the norm for Cruz.
“I’m not surprised by anything anymore,” Cruz said. “If you told me that we're playing on the moon next year, I'd be like, 'All right, cool. Let me know when and where, and I'll be there' … I wouldn't be surprised if this thing continues to grow at an unprecedented rate.”
Despite their growing success, the Bananas’ brand of baseball remains polarizing — an easy target for detractors of zaniness, gatekeepers of fun and opponents of pizzazz who either don’t understand it or refuse to see its appeal.
“Anybody that criticizes this, we’re not for them,” Cole said. “There’s tradition in baseball, perfect. They’ve got Major League Baseball. … For people that want to come out and have fun, not take themselves too seriously and see something they've never seen before — and hopefully see the greatest show in sports — we built something for you.”
The formula works. And again, the numbers don’t lie.
The Savannah Bananas' Jackson Olson celebrates a Troy Glaus base hit while the Bananas take on the Firefighters at Angel Stadium on Friday. Comedian Bert Kreischer celebrated behind the Bananas in the dugout. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Yes, the Savannah Bananas’ brand of baseball is far too outlandish ever to be compared to the major leagues — from flaming baseballs, rump-shaking umps and dress rehearsals. That’s the point. It all feels like something conjured from the wildest dreams of the late Bill Veeck’s imagination found a home, in a good way.
With many of the Banana Ball’s 11 rules — like an automatic strike when hitters step out of the box or ejecting bunting hitters because bunting “sucks” — are grounded in some sports-based logic, the innovations remain sacrilegious to baseball purists.
But for a fleeting moment in December, Major League Baseball and Banana Ball were almost linked.
In Banana Ball, the Golden Batter rule allows teams, once per game, to send their best hitter to the plate regardless of where they fall in the batting order.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred caused a stir when he floated a potential seismic rule by floating, making an offhand comment about the golden batter rule. Manfred later clarified it was merely “a very preliminary conversation” among members of the league’s competition committee and had not been formally discussed by the full ownership group.
A far-fetched idea, but Manfred has ushered in sweeping changes, from the widely praised pitch clock to the more contentious extra-inning “ghost runner.”
“Anything that's best for the fans, I'm all in,” Cole said of its potential. “I know Major League Baseball won't do it because of traditions, but ... we've had a lot of fun doing it.”
The Firefighters run on the field before taking on the Savannah Bananas at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
But MLB would be behind the Bananas, who already introduced their version of the rule last season with a typical flair and showmanship. Their spin on it is a batter summoned from the dugout wearing a James Brown-esque cape and a gleaming golden helmet — an honor that went to Joe Lytle, who came to bat in the top of the ninth for the Bananas' Anaheim opponent, the Firefighters.
Ultimately, in a game where the score isn’t the end-all, be-all — but the fun is — the Bananas beat the Firefighters 5–2.
Like any other Bananas game, the festivities took center stage. It began with the “First Peel,” a signature ceremony in which a young fan bites into a banana to declare whether it’s good or bad — setting the tone for the night.
Heisman Trophy winner and USC legend Matt Leinart threw out the ceremonial first spiral (because, of course, he did). And in true fashion, Angels World Series MVP Troy Glaus made a surprise cameo as a pinch hitter.
But what was more important was the trip to Anaheim, a fitting one for Cole and Co.
The team that opened its season lip-syncing “Be Our Guest” from the Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast” — and its owner, cut from the same theatrical cloth as Disney — were celebrated a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth — Disneyland.
Savannah Bananas founder and owner Jesse Cole provides color commentary during the baby race between innings at Angel Stadium on Friday. (Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)
Greeted by fans in yellow gear, Cole’s creation — the Bananas — marched in step down Main Street U.S.A., alongside Walt’s own — Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck.
“When I walked underneath the castle and over the bridge and in front of thousands of people, they were all there for us,” Cole said. “Then I look and see Walt’s statue, holding the hand of Mickey, and I see that and I’m like, 'This is special.'”
It was a full-circle moment for Cole, who became “immersed in the magic” after his first trip to Disney World as a kid — and who now says, “In a perfect world, I’d play catch with Walt on Main Street.” Serendipity.
“For me, that was an emotional moment — to know that we have worked so hard to create something that means something to people, that they come from all over the country just for a chance to see us,” Cole added.
The 2025 NBA Finals have been set, with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder representing the Western Conference, and the No. 4 seed Indiana Pacers coming out of the Eastern Conference. Each team took different paths to get here.
The Thunder made their first Finals appearance since a young Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden led them there in 2012. The Pacers’ run has been 25 years in the making, last getting this far in 2000 behind the duo of Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose. To do so, Indiana and Oklahoma City had to get through a conference finals with a whole ton of ties to the 2020 NBA Draft, one in which the Warriors can’t escape, five years later.
It all starts with the team the Thunder took down in five games. The Minnesota Timberwolves won just 19 games in the 2019-20 season, two seasons after being the No. 8 seed under Tom Thibodeau behind a trio of Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins (hey, more Warriors ties!) and Karl-Anthony Towns. Minnesota with the top pick in the draft made Anthony Edwards its new face of the franchise, and Ant-Man already has become one of the faces of the entire NBA at 23 years old.
Edwards is a dog whose bite matches his bark, a bona fide superstar who backs up his words. Part of that he credits to Warriors coach Steve Kerr for the way he pushed him in his pre-draft workout when Golden State was selecting one spot behind Minnesota. Kerr knew Edwards wanted to soon enough be mentioned with the greats like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant, but how he attacked his workout was nothing compared to those two. The taste of defeat in the conference finals for a second straight year will sit with Edwards for the time being, though the Timberwolves obviously already have gotten everything a franchise hopes for in having the No. 1 pick.
In technical terms, the Timberwolves made two more picks five years ago, taking Aleksej Pokusevski (No. 17) and Daniel Oturu (No. 33). Neither ever wore a Timberwolves jersey. Pokusevski was traded to the Thunder, and Oturu was sent to the LA Clippers.
They did bring in one more player, Leandro Bolmaro, with the No. 23 pick as part of a three-team trade, but this point is all about what happened five picks later. The Los Angeles Lakers originally drafted Jaden McDaniels, but in the same three-team trade that involved Pokusevski and Bolmaro, the Timberwolves traded for McDaniels from the Thunder.
Like that, the Timberwolves added two players in the 2020 draft who are starters on a team that made back-to-back conference finals, one who is an All-NBA player and another who is an All-Defensive player. Yet they still aren’t the winners of the draft five years ago when it comes to these conference finals.
Their victors, the Thunder, have owned a wealth of draft picks that go deeper than Cat Stevens’ first cut. It’s not like OKC crushed this draft on its road back to the Finals.
The Great Poku Experiment brought social media buzz and not much else. They first had the No. 25 pick, Immanuel Quickley, that was sent to the New York Knicks, and also in a sense had the McDaniels pick on paper. The Thunder acquired two players in the second round, and those selections didn’t amount to any results.
Then there’s the No. 49 pick. The team was the Philadelphia 76ers, and the player they landed on was Isaiah Joe. But his time in Philly was only two seasons for a total of 96 games, averaging 3.7 points with a 34.9 3-point percentage. The 76ers waived him on Oct. 13, 2022. The Thunder then signed him three days later for a total of $6 million over three seasons.
Joe last July signed a four-year, $48 million deal as a key cog in the Thunder’s machine. They developed a 6-foot-5 guard into someone who has shot 42.3 percent on threes for them the last three seasons and averaged a career-high 10.2 points per game. The Warriors were on the clock one spot ahead of Joe being selected by the Sixers.
Golden State grabbed point guard Nico Mannion, who played one season in a Warriors jersey and has spent his time playing in Italy since his rookie year. Just three picks after taking Mannion, the Warriors went with a shooter who was a project everywhere else in Justinian Jessup, and he’s still yet to play an NBA game.
Back in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks have only one player on their roster drafted in 2020. Precious Achiuwa originally was drafted by the Miami Heat 20th overall, traded to the Toronto Raptors one year later, and then wound up in New York as part of a deal that saw the Knicks send Quickley up north.
But the Knicks, as they somehow always do whether they’re good or bad, will find their way back into this story.
This year’s conference finals featured the NBA MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and the two best players from the 2020 draft. The top dog from the draft is Edwards, however, Tyrese Haliburton has made his case.
Haliburton wasn’t a top three, five or 10 pick in the draft. He barely remained in the lottery before being taken by the Sacramento Kings at No. 12. While he was more than one team’s loss, including the Kings after trading him to the Pacers in a package highlighted by Domantas Sabonis, Haliburton would have been the perfect Warrior.
And he isn’t the Pacers’ lone win, looking back at a bizarre draft.
Now it’s time for the Knicks to re-enter the conversation. Thoughts of Obi Toppin hammering home East Bay Dunks at Madison Square Garden didn’t translate to stardom. He started only 15 games and averaged 7.0 points in three seasons with the Knicks after being drafted No. 8 overall, but Toppin now has settled into his own the past two seasons as a Pacer, scoring 20 points in a critical Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round.
Aaron Nesmith tallied 16 minutes for the Boston Celtics against the Warriors in the 2022 Finals, with the majority coming in garbage time of a Game 2 blowout loss for Boston. He was an afterthought when that next offseason, the Celtics traded him to the Pacers for one season of Malcolm Brogdon. Yes, Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year for the Celtics that season, but has played 63 games between two teams since.
Meanwhile, Nesmith, the No. 14 pick in the 2020 draft, has turned into the Pacers’ starting small forward, giving them three players from the lottery of five years ago. The Timberwolves’ duo of Edwards and McDaniels is hard to beat. The Pacers came out of the 2020 draft with only Cassius Stanley (No. 54 overall), and now have a trio of Haliburton, Toppin and Nesmith that made two straight conference finals before the franchise’s first trip to the Finals in 25 years, giving them an edge that’s hard to argue against.
Everything is circular. There’s only one way for all this to end, bringing it back to the Warriors.
The story has been told enough: The Warriors chose James Wiseman at No. 2 overall, and let’s just say it didn’t work out. The Wiseman era was interrupted by injuries, sure. The Warriors won a championship without him, and the results spoke for themselves when he did play.
Wiseman was traded to the Detroit Pistons the next season and spent all of last year there. He played a career-high 63 games in 2023-24, but then was looking for his third team while still 23 years old at the time. The Pacers inked him at the opening of free agency, and Wiseman lasted one game on his newest team – to no fault of his own.
Another injury wiped out another full season. Wiseman scored six points in the first quarter of the Pacers’ season opener, and then … snap! Wiseman slowly collapsed to center court in Detroit after missing a three. He tore his Achilles, ending his season, and the Pacers traded him to the Raptors at this season’s deadline in exchange for a trade exception.
After all that, Wiseman has a chance to technically be the one and only two-time champion from the Class of 2020 in seasons he played a combined four minutes and 28 seconds. For all that he’s endured, Wiseman deserves the good fortune of a possible Pacers championship and a second ring to wear if they win and choose to award him one.
Armando Reséndiz pulled off a massive upset on Saturday night, defeating former world champion Caleb Plant by split decision to capture the interim WBA super middleweight title at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas.
Reséndiz (16-2, 11 KOs) won on two judges’ scorecards by identical 116-112 scores, overruling one card that had Plant ahead 115-113. The 25-year-old Mexican outworked and outlanded Plant over 12 rounds, handing the American his second straight loss and third in his last five fights.
Pascal Siakam was named MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after another starring role for the Indiana Pacers [Getty Images]
The Indiana Pacers reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000 as they beat the New York Knicks 125-108 in game six of the Eastern Conference finals.
Pascal Siakam maintained his impressive form to be named MVP of the series after recording 31 points and three blocked shots on Saturday in Indianapolis.
Siakam scored over 30 points in three of four victories for the Pacers, who won the series 4-2.
The Pacers will face Western Conference winners the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday.
Siakam, a nine-year veteran who won the title in 2019 with the Toronto Raptors, said: "After a bad game five, we wanted to bounce back and I have 100% belief in my team-mates. Whenever we're down, we find a way, and we did that tonight."
Looking back to when he was an NBA champion, Siakam said: "That year was my third year, I was this young kid. I thought it was going to be easy [to get back].
"I appreciate it even more now because I know how hard it is to get here."
Speaking about Siakam, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle added: "So deserving. The guy has been a rock of consistency all year."
Tyrese Haliburton also starred for the hosts, adding 21 points, 13 assists and three steals, while Obi Toppin scored 18 points off the bench.
"It's a special feeling to do it with this group," Haliburton said. "We got to the same spot last year and we fell short. We worked our tails off to get back here."
For the Knicks, OG Anunoby top-scored with 24 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 points as the visitors fell short after conceding 18 turnovers.
The first quarter was a tight affair as the Pacers led 25-24 before stretching their lead to four points by the end of the first half.
Pacers took control in the third quarter, which began with a 9-0 run, to end the Knicks' resistance and claim the series win.
When the dust finally settles from the Knicks' season-ending loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, a considerable chunk of the summer chatter will center around the job security of head coach Tom Thibodeau.
The debates among fans and pundits haven't cooled down. Some believe the veteran coach deserves another season to guide the Knicks' current core, while others contend a fresh face sharing a new philosophy is needed for the franchise to finally reach championship heights.
Thibodeau's seat isn't as hot as it used to be -- there were rumblings about his future back in April, before the Knicks faced the underdog Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. A disappointing finish to the 2024-25 season can't erase their overachievements, and captain Jalen Brunson emphatically believes his coach is fit to continue leading the group.
"Is that a real question right now?" Brunson said after the Game 6 loss to the Pacers on Saturday night. "You just asked me if I believe he's the right guy? Yes."
The Knicks didn't play a disciplined brand of basketball with a long-coveted trip to the NBA Finals up for grabs. They comitted a whopping 93 turnovers across six games against the Pacers, and conceded 23.3 points on average from those blunders alone. Throughout the series, Indiana was tougher and more resilient.
Of course, not all fingers can be pointed toward Thibodeau for the Knicks' shortcomings. His job is restricted to the bench and sideline. But there isn't a single Knicks fan who could seriously argue Thibodeau coached a better series than Pacers veteran Rick Carlisle. In a battle of wits and scheme, it was practically no contest.
But the Knicks still earned their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals with mental fortitude and timely starpower, and even Carlisle recognizes how Thibodeau has helped reshape the franchise's image since assuming the head coaching job in 2020.
"The Knicks were an unreal opponent," Carlisle said. "Tough-minded, always coming at you. After the game, they showed great class with all the interactions I had with those guys. I mentioned the job that Thibs has done there. He's turned the culture completely flipped from where it was."
Thibodeau, who turned 67 in January, signed a three-year contract extension with the Knicks last summer that keeps him with the team through the 2027-28 season. Only time will tell if he sticks around for the handful of seasons remaining on his deal.
Jalen Brunson was asked if he has confidence that Tom Thibodeau is the right coach for the Knicks moving forward:
"Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe if he's the right guy. Yes." pic.twitter.com/FRjCO8genL
A 115th-minute winner from Denis Bouanga sealed it
LAFC opens the Club World Cup v Chelsea on 16 June
Denis Bouanga scored an extra-time winner to lift Los Angeles FC to a 2-1 victory over Club América in a Club World Cup qualifying playoff match at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday.
The winger, who had orchestrated much of LAFC’s attacking output in the match, scored the winner in the 115th minute after unleashing a shot that took a wicked deflection on its way into the net.
While it's hard to look on the bright side after a disappointing end to the campaign -- one that was two wins away from New York being in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 -- Jalen Brunson was asked what positives could be taken from an otherwise successful year.
"I think the way this team progressed this year, for me, it was fun," Brunson said after the loss. "A lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things, a lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we kind of put blinders on and went to work, that’s what I’m most proud of with this team."
After finishing with their best record since the 2012-13 season, the Knicks showed a lot of grit and were able to play through tons of adversity.
Whether it was Brunson's injury toward the end of the season, losing every regular season game against the top teams in the NBA in the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, or going further in the playoffs than most thought they would, the Knicks proved a lot of doubters wrong.
Not to mention, the onslaught of critics of head coach Tom Thibodeau, and how the addition of new players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges would fit in his system.
"You make the moves to win so it hurts. It hurts not to be able to bring an opportunity to the city for a championship," Towns said. "We got a bunch of great guys in that locker room and the plan now is to just put ourselves in this position again and succeed next time."
And while it's hard to think about in this moment, the Knicks, indeed, are set up for success in the future.
Not only have they improved their regular season record over the last four years, they've played deeper into the postseason in each season too.
And if you ask Brunson if he thinks this team has the mettle to take that final leap, it isn't even a question.
"The most confidence. Over-confident, seriously," he said. "There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident in this group."
"You’re always gonna hear me say run it back," Josh Hart added. "I think I said the same thing last year of the guys that we had. I’d like to do it, I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step."
Hart continued: "I think we handled adversity well. I think we grew as a team. There were good moments and bad moments, just like every season. We’ll continue to make strides, continue to improve."
While looking toward the future can be a mini escape of what just transpired, nobody on the Knicks is pleased with the result of the season. Not yet, at least.
"Sucks man. Simple as that. It sucks," Brunson said.
The Knicks knew they needed to fix their alarming turnover issue in order to survive a do-or-die road Game 6 against the Pacers and push the Eastern Conference Finals to a pivotal Game 7 at home. But no plan was put into action once they stepped onto the court with the season on the line. The glaring trend ultimately caused their demise.
Careless possessions and poor communication burned the Knicks again on Saturday night, as a whopping 18 turnovers that produced 34 points sealed their fate in a season-ending 125-108 loss to the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in over a quarter-century were swiftly dashed.
There wasn't a turnover conundrum for the Knicks during the regular season. They averaged the fifth-fewest across that 82-game slate (13.3), and during the first two rounds of the playoffs, their mark was slightly lower (12.9). But an average of 15.5 turnovers in six East Finals contests fueled the Pacers in transition and shaped several outcomes.
"They played well, they played fast. Turnovers were tough for us," Knicks guard Josh Hart said after the loss. "We had some lapses in communication. In the postseason, you can't do that. You can't give away possesions, you can't give away games. You've got to tip your cap to them... You can't give away games in the playoffs. It's tough. We're all disappointed and frustrated."
The stunning swings the Knicks endured throughout the series were triggered by mediocre ball control, and the Pacers took full advantage of those blunders. New York's average turnover mark resulted in Indiana posting 23.3 points per game on those mistakes and 17.6 points per game on the fast break.
No surprise, the Knicks' biggest catalyst was also their biggest culprit. Of the 93 total turnovers committed against the Pacers, de facto captain Jalen Brunson was responsible for one-quarter of them (24). Karl-Anthony Towns also gave the ball up 16 total times in the series, and the team's All-Star tandem combined for only 41 points in Game 6. Each Knicks starter finished Saturday with a plus-minus mark in the negative teens.
"It's definitely tough to look ahead, but even when you win, it's always about what's next," Brunson said. "Regardless, we're going to go into the summer and going to work. We're going to get better and figure out a way how we can change this outcome. It's going to start with us and our mentality, making sure we've got to take it one game at a time. We can't jump right back to the Conference Finals."
The renewed playoff rivalry was centered around discipline. In the first five games of the series, the Knicks conceded 106 points on 75 turnovers, while only logging 46 points off of the Pacers' giveaways. The Knicks also turned the ball over 15-plus times in five of their six meetings.
If there was a consistent talking point out of the Knicks from the start of the series through the end it was this: No stupid turnovers. The Pacers thrive on turning those into easy buckets the other way.
In Game 6, with their season on the line Indiana cranked up their defensive press and the Knicks, well…
Indiana scored 34 points on 17 Knicks turnovers (15 of those through three quarters when the game was in doubt) and that combined with 31 points from Pascal Siakam, and 21 points with 13 assists from Tyrese Haliburton, is sending the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals for the first time in a quarter century.
Indiana wins Game 6 125-108 and takes the series 4-2.
Indiana will travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night (8:30 PM Eastern on ABC).
Pascal Siakam — who scored 30+ points in three of the four Pacers wins— was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP.
“After a bad Game 5 we wanted to bounce back and I have 100% belief in my teammates. Whenever we’re down we find a way and we did that tonight,” Siakam said, holding the trophy at center court.
It was a bounce-back game. It was also the kind of game where everything seemed to go right for the Pacers — even Obi Toppin and Thomas Bryant were draining multiple 3-pointers.
While everything was going right for Indy, it was a rough night for the Knicks’ stars. Jalen Brunson had 19 points but needed 18 shots to get there, plus he had five turnovers in the face of ramped-up Pacers pressure. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 (on 19 shots) with 14 boards, but he had a number of ugly defensive plays, like going under the screen on Haliburton and watching him drain 3s.
With a lot on the line, both teams were tight in the first quarter, as evidenced by the 10 total turnovers and Towns' 1-of-6 shooting. Still, the game was tight, 25-24 Indy after one quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same. The Knicks got a great stretch of play from Landry Shamet and Delon Wright off the bench. OG Anunoby had 14 first-half points, but the Knicks' 10 turnovers, which led to transition opportunities for the Pacers, had them up 58-54. Siakam was the only Pacer in double figures in the first half with 16.
In the third quarter, the Pacers broke the game open and took control. It started with a 9-0 run to open the frame, capped off by a Siakam and-1 on a leak out. Indiana wasn’t done, their run stretched out to 20-9 behind Bryant’s 3s. From that point on the rest of the game, any time the Knicks would make a run — they had a 7-0 one out of a timeout in the third — the Pacers would answer with a bigger run, 9-0 to answer the Knicks with that one. Indiana led by 15 after three quarters, and this was the key stat: 15 Knicks turnovers became 30 Pacers points (New York had six points off Pacers turnovers at that point).
That was the ballgame. That was the series. And the deeper team that trusted that depth from the start of the series is moving on to the NBA Finals.
