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GettyMarcus Smart, Celtics de Boston
As the 2022 NBA Finals approach, many are talking about how the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors will face off. Of all the variables at play, there’s one advantage Golden State has over Boston: NBA Finals experience.
June 2, 2022 will mark Golden State’s sixth NBA Finals appearance since 2015. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Kevon Looney have accumulated 123 games of NBA Finals experience. Keep in mind Damion Lee was also on the team when they reached the Finals in 2019, and Iguodala made the Finals with the Miami Heat in 2020.
That’s 123 more games than any of the Celtics, leading NBA analysts and former NBA champions Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins to wonder how that might play a role in the unfolding of the game. NBA Finals 2022.
PlayHow much experience will count in this NBA Finals? | NBA TodayRichard Jefferson, Chiney Ogwumike and Kendrick Perkins join Malika Andrews on NBA Today to discuss the importance of experience in this NBA Finals. ☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: plus.espn.com/ ????Get the ESPN app: espn.com/espn/apps/espn ???? Subscribe to NBA on ESPN on YouTube: bit.ly/2yxs3Og ☑️Subscribe to ESPN on YouTube: es.pn /SUBSCRIBEtoYOUTUBE ☑️Watch ESPN on YouTube TV: es.pn/YouTubeTV2022-05-30T20:59:28Z
“When you have experience, it just lets you get into your rhythm (and) your system,” Jefferson said. “Understanding Super Bowl Media Day is very similar to NBA Finals Media Day. There’s so much attention and all the hype that comes with it. Once you’ve experienced that, it’s a little easier to focus on basketball.
Perkins, who appeared in four NBA Finals in his career with the Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, said how a team handles its lack of experience in its first NBA Finals depends on the team it plays. -same.
“It depends on what team you’re on,” Perkins said. “I was on the Boston Celtic team with a lot of veterans who had no league experience and jumped straight into the game and just played basketball. I was also on the young Oklahoma City Thunder team where we made it to the Finals and it was kind of overwhelming… The only thing I would give (to the Celtics) advice is ‘Yeah, live- the. Embrace this moment, but you have to regroup and remember that at the end of the day, yes, it’s the final, and I know how hard the journey is to get to the final, but don’t let yourself take at the moment. Remember, it’s still just basketball. Because if you don’t, then the Golden State Warrior team will be waiting for you.
Former NBA star reflects on Boston Finals inexperience
Amar’e Stoudemire never made the NBA Finals during his playing days, but he came close twice. Both times came when he played for the Phoenix Suns when they made the Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2010 – they also made it in 2006 but Stoudemire wasn’t playing. He recently gave his expertise on the significance of Boston’s lack of NBA Finals experience on the ESPN show, “Bart and Hahn.”
PlayWill the Warriors’ experience in the NBA Finals be a factor in the series for the Celtics? Will the Warriors’ experience in the NBA Finals be a factor in the series for the Celtics? Amar’e Stoudemire joins Bart & Hahn to discuss whether the Golden State Warriors’ experience in the NBA Finals will play a role in the series for the Boston Celtics. #Bart&Hahn #NBA ☑️ Subscribe to ESPN+: plus.espn.com/ ????Get the…2022-06-01T22:02:54Z
“As the games go on, where there is game 1 to 7, there will be stretches throughout these games where you can see the lack of experience that they place,” said Stoudemire. “Whether it’s closing quarters, managing timeouts, making good plays, controlling every possession. You’re going to have those periods throughout the game where there will be ‘lack of experience’ moments, but I think they have enough talent around them to make up for that difference.
Stoudemire also predicted Boston would win the series.
Boston didn’t have much Finals experience in 2008
As Perkins said in this previous segment for ESPN, the first time he made the NBA Finals with the Celtics, they didn’t have much Finals experience when they faced the Los Lakers. Angeles in the 2008 NBA Finals.
At that time, they only had three players on that team who had NBA Finals experience. Those players were Sam Cassell, who won two championships with the Houston Rockets in 1993 and 1994, James Posey, who won the title with Miami in 2006, and Brian Scalabrine, who played for the New Jersey Nets both times the team reached the Finals in 2001 and 2002. Together, the three had 23 games of NBA Finals experience.
The 2007-08 Lakers, meanwhile, had more Finals experience between the late great Kobe Bryant (20 games), Derek Fisher (20 games) and Luke Walton (four games). Together, they had 44 games of NBA Finals experience.
The disparity might not have been as big then as it is now between the current Celtics and current Warriors, but Boston’s lack of NBA Finals experience didn’t stop them from beating the Lakers. 4-2 to win their 17th championship as a franchise.
The only way we’ll know if Boston will suffer from their lack of NBA Finals experience is how they do against Golden State.
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