We’ve Always Known Timberwolves and Thunder Were ‘Next.’ But Which One Is Now?

Two Of Basketball's Brightest Young Stars Will Compete For More Than A Trip To The Finals

With the NBA conference finals matchups set, the most interesting narrative question of these playoffs has been answered. Would the veteran-laden squads who'd done it before triumph again, or would the new generation put their elders out to pasture? The second round was a clear referendum in favor of the zoomer uprising, with the last three champions—the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Golden State Warriors—getting eliminated. When the confe…

We’ve always known Timberwolves and Thunder were ‘Next.’ But which one is now?

We have arrived at the new age of the NBA. As the league moves onto its semifinal round, gone are the likes of Steph Curry, LeBron James and the Boston Celtics. The teams and figures that have dominated center stage for the last 15-plus years have stepped aside this spring to make way for the next wave. The NBA’s conference finals feature four relatively fresh faces in Minnesota, Oklahoma City, New York and Indiana. The Knicks are the only franc…

Frederick: We’ve always known Timberwolves and Thunder were ‘Next.’ But which one is now?

We have arrived at the new age of the NBA. As the league moves onto its semifinal round, gone are the likes of Steph Curry, LeBron James and the Boston Celtics. The teams and figures that have dominated center stage for the last 15-plus years have stepped aside this spring to make way for the next wave. The NBA’s conference finals feature four relatively fresh faces in Minnesota, Oklahoma City, New York and Indiana. The Knicks are the only franc…

Six Former Wildcats Have Sights Set On An NBA Championship

The Kentucky-to-the-NBA pipeline has never been more alive, and former Cats are thriving. At the start of the NBA playoffs, 14 former Kentucky Wildcats were poised to chase a championship, etching their name into the league’s history books. Now, as the dust settles after two intense rounds, just four teams remain — each carrying a piece of Big Blue Nation with them. In the Western Conference finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by presumptive …

On May 18, local time, in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs of the NBA, the Thunder won the "Game 7" and eliminated the Nuggets 4:3, confirming in advance that the championships in the past seven seasons will be won by seven different teams, breaking the historical record; and the star players of the four teams that advanced to the "Final Four" have never won a championship, which is destined to give birth to a "new king" this …