In 24 hours, we will know who the 2025 NBA Champion will be. The victor — be it the Indiana Pacers or the Oklahoma City Thunder — will be crowned well into June this time around. That’s because, for the first time since 2016, the Finals will go to a Game 7. While many are still picking the Thunder to be the team that triumphs, Dwyane Wade broke down why he thinks Indy has the advantage.
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While talking about the upcoming championship finale on the latest edition of his podcast, The Flash highlighted a major factor beyond the key players on both rosters. He spoke about how Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has been to the show before and won a title with the Mavericks in 2011.
Who did Carlisle and company beat that year? Wade and the Miami Heat.
“Let’s remember the Rick Carlisle effect when we talk about Game 7s,” Wade began. “Won a championship before, has been there.”
The NBA legend is right. Coaching is everything in these close, clutch games when everything is on the line. And Carlisle’s 2025 Pacers have proven that they are never out of any game until the clock reads zero.
Carlisle has already done wonders to stop the Thunder’s main weapon, league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He got a little flak for the way they [have] been defending SGA. Look at the defensive assignment he made, the adjustment that was made here,” said Wade.
“That’s a lot of coaching as well, that’s not just the players,” added Wade, impressed with what the 65-year-old veteran has been doing.
D-Wade used those examples to drive home his point: If Game 7 becomes a close affair, he gives the Pacers the advantage just because of Carlisle’s coaching experience.
“We know the Pacers have the advantage, and that scares you a little bit if you’re an OKC fan because you know they’re going to be able to make the right adjustments. But if it gets to a point where it is a close game, then you [have] got to look at the Pacers. The Pacers may have the nod,” elaborated Wade.
The proof is in the pudding. Indiana bounced through Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, through the No. 1-ranked Cleveland Cavaliers, and through a spirited New York Knicks team to make it to the Finals.
They stole Game 1 of the Finals, off the heroics of another late-game comeback, and a clutch shot by The Moment, Tyrese Haliburton.
If the Thunder don’t want their championship dreams crushed, they need to rout the Pacers. SGA needs to morph into the player who won the MVP this season. Chet Holmgren needs to show up. The bench needs to be ready, because the Pacers’ bench is ALWAYS ready.
And Wade’s point would give Thunder fans something to lose sleep over.
