Uncompromising, the Thunder won everything this year en route to their first NBA championship, in their 17th season in Oklahoma City.
The rumble began in 2024, despite exiting in the second round. This time the storm really broke, without sparing.
The odyssey towards majesty concluded at home: the Paycom Center experienced its moment of glory, scene of a victorious match number 7.
In this one, the Pacers’ resistance didn’t wear out until late in the third quarter. They were then missing Tyrese Haliburton, who fell in action after seven minutes of play, in the first quarter.
Nevertheless, the triumph was fully deserved for a group which, at the start of the decade, experienced campaigns of 22 and 24 victories.
Head coach Mark Daigneault, who turned 40 in February, was able to celebrate in June.
A bit like in the success Opalite, by Taylor Swift, OKC danced through the lightning, before bathing in the light.
The chief scout was Ontario’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – tour scoring champion, season MVP and Finals MVP.
The Ontarian was also third in the NBA in steals per game.
Several teammates supported him brilliantly, including Quebecer Luguentz Dort.
The Montrealer was named to the NBA’s first team all-star team on defense, while setting a personal high for three-point shooting success rate (41.2%).
In the regular season, OKC set an NBA record with a plus-minus rating of 12.9, in addition to leading the league in steals and turnovers caused per game.
In the wake of the title, the Canadian compatriots were warmly welcomed in their cities: SGA obtained the keys to the city of Hamilton and was cheered by the crowd, before a Tiger-Cats game; Dort signed the Golden Book of the city of Montreal and was the subject of a great celebration in Montreal North.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti was named NBA executive of the year in early May.
It is a windfall that the Thunder wants to extend, in a context of seven different champions since 2019, where the Toronto Raptors lifted the trophy.
In the fall, OKC began the NBA’s 80th season by improving its record to 8-0 and 24-1.
Intriguingly, three of their five losses have come at the hands of the Spurs to this point.
Another Montrealer shined this year, as Bennedict Mathurin established himself as a high-volume scorer for Indiana.
In the third game of the finals, Mathurin led all players with 27 points.
As for the Raptors, they concluded a second difficult season in a row in April. They are doing better in the current one despite the long absence of RJ Barrett, injured in the knee.
It’s not easy to identify the true face of the club: that of the nine wins in a row, in November, or that of the performance of 4-9, since that time.
Toronto leads the league in quick restart points. The team is also fifth in points allowed per game, but only two clubs have suffered more blocks than the Raptors.
To the four winds
Colossal transaction in February: the Mavericks sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers, in return for Anthony Davis. Doncic started the current season with three straight games of 43 points or more. He leads the league with 33.7 points per game, on average.
His new teammate LeBron James set a record by taking part in a 23rd season, one more than Vince Carter.
James will turn 41 on Tuesday. The NBA’s all-time scoring champion began the season on November 18 due to sciatic nerve problems.
Former Toronto club Fred VanVleet, now with the Rockets, was elected president of the NBA Players’ Association in July. In September, however, he suffered a knee injury that could cost him the entire current season.
Another key former member of the Raptors, Kyle Lowry, began a 20th season in the NBA. Having become more or less a player-coach, he is in his third season with his hometown team, the 76ers.
Also in Toronto, senior management and Masai Ujiri chose to take different paths, announcing it in late June.
A top executive of the Raptors since 2013, Ujiri was a leading figure during a prosperous era in their history, culminating with the 2019 championship.
A monumental chapter ended in San Antonio with the retirement in May of Gregg Popovich, after 29 seasons at the helm of the Spurs. The decision was taken following a stroke he suffered in November 2024.
Popovich is the winningest coach in NBA history (1,390).
NBA giant Lenny Wilkens died on November 9 at the age of 88, a little more than four months after the unveiling of a statue in his honor in Seattle.
After a successful playing career, no one has been a head coach for more games than Wilkens in the NBA.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, coach and assistant for the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.
In November and December, the Spurs took the first steps toward what will lead to a new arena: first a vote by county residents in favor of the idea, then the intention to purchase a large site to center the project.
In the WNBA, the Las Vegas Aces obtained a third title in four seasons and the new Toronto club, Tempo, announced the holding of two meetings in Montreal next year.
On the corporate side, the NBA renewed long-term agreements this year with Kia, Adidas and Tissot, among others.
On the horizon, there is the United States formula all-star match against the rest of the planet in Los Angeles on February 16. A few days earlier, as an appetizer, the cartoon film GOAT will be released in theaters, where basketball will be in the spotlight.
Jean-François Tremblay, The Canadian Press
