From teammates to opponents, the Thunder and Pacers are tied!

The Thunder defeated the Grizzlies, Nuggets and Timberwolves in a row, and won the Western Conference championship again after 13 years; on the other hand, the Pacers re-entered the second finals in team history after 25 years. Although this is the first time that the two teams that have been waiting for the championship to compete for the championship, there are quite a lot of connections between the players of the Thunder and the Pacers.

My hometown friends: Dort and Matherine

For Dort, the summer training in 2021 is the only connection between him and the Pacers players. Marcelyn, who was about to enter his sophomore year, and Dorte both came from the Monterey area in northern Montreal. They even came from the same community, played for the same AAU team, and both played at Arizona State University. They met since childhood and then went on the basketball path.

After entering the NBA, the two fellow villagers still had close contacts. Although they did not have direct blood relationship, Dort still regarded Matherine as his brother. During the offseason, the two were still training together. For Dort at that time, he could not completely limit Matherine in college.

Matherine averaged 10.8 points per game in her freshman season to 17.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in her sophomore season. Her outstanding performance allowed the Pacers to pick him at the sixth pick on the 2022 draft night, while Dort was out of the 2019 draft in advance.

In March 2023, the two played in the same match as NBA players for the first time. Dort scored 22 points, 11 rebounds and 1 steal, helping the Thunder defeat the Pacers 126-106; while Matherine scored 13 points and 5 rebounds. During the interview after the game, Dort was interrupted by a phone call when answering, and the reporter asked directly whether it was Matherine on the other end of the phone.

Then Dort replied with a smile: "That's right, it's him."

Long before being selected by the NBA team, Matherine told the media on draft night that the opponent he most looked forward to was Dort.

"We come from the same community. I used to call him Big Brother when I met, but now we are all entering the next level, so it's time for him to see who is the real Big Brother. I'm looking forward to playing with him."

The two are also since the Rockets' Mario Ellie, players of Haitian descent appeared on the stage of the NBA Finals again, and it is also the first time that opponents of Haitian descent appeared. The two fellow townsmen are becoming important members of their respective teams in their own way, which depends on who can win the title of "Big Brother" with better performance on this highest stage.

College teammates: Homgren and Nembhard

As the Pacers' starting backcourt players, Nembhard has been an important part of the Pacers since entering the league, and has played a key role in the playoff stage as a backcourt defensive sharp knife. According to statistics, Nembhard defended Knicks main player Brunson in the Eastern Conference Finals for as many as 55 rounds, and ultimately limited the star guard to 38.2% shooting percentage and 30% outside three-point shooting percentage, which was quite stable in defensive performance.

As for the Thunder in the West, due to injury issues this season, Homegren only played 32 games in the regular season, and was injured until the All-Stars were able to return. As the core of the team's inside line, Homegren scored 18 points, 6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in the Western Conference Finals, with a high-performance percentage of 56.7%, and his average of 18 points, 6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The value on both offense and defense is quite outstanding.

Before entering the NBA, the two men served as teammates at Gonzaga University, as senior guards and freshman centers as the team's core. They matched Drew Timmy, who currently plays for the Nets, and Julian Strauser, who played in the Western Conference semi-finals, and Julian Strauser, who had played in the Western Conference semi-finals, to help Gonzaga University achieve a 28-4 season record and successfully enter the top 16 of the NCAA Championship, but were eventually eliminated by the University of Arkansas led by Homegren Thunder teammate Jerry Williams.

And now, Homgren and Nembhard have become the sixth and seventh players in Gonzaga University's school history to enter the NBA Finals.

However, there is not only Homgren, the Thunder player who has a relationship with Nembhard.

National teammates: Nembhard and Alexander

Canadian men's basketball team have failed in the World Cup and Olympic qualifiers many times in recent years. The Canadian Basketball Association has launched an integration plan in recent years to actively operate outstanding Canadian players to join the national team. As a Canadian leader after Steve Nash, the task of leading the Canadian men's basketball team back to the top naturally fell on Alexander.

And the new defender did not disappoint. He led the Canadian men's basketball team to defeat Slovenia led by Doncic on the World Cup stage, and then knocked down the US men's basketball team head-on in the third place, successfully bringing back the first World Cup medal in the history of the Canadian men's basketball team.

After the first step was successful, the Canadian men's basketball team began to target the Paris Olympics and convened two backcourts, Jamal Murray and Nembhard. But unfortunately, Murray performed poorly due to injury. In contrast, Nembhard, who came to the Olympics for the first time, showed his value. He played highlights against the traditional powerhouse Spanish men's basketball team in the group stage, and scored 19 points on 8 of 10 shots in the game, helping the Canadian men's basketball team to qualify in the group with a record of winning.

Although the Canadian men's basketball team eventually lost to the host French men's basketball team in the quarterfinals due to lineup defects, Nembhard's outstanding performance cannot be ignored. Just like his teammate Alexander praised him after the game:

"I certainly knew he was excellent, but I didn't expect him to be so outstanding. Nembhard is a very talented player, very calm, and constantly hurt his opponents in different ways on the court. No matter which team has him, it is a great luck to have him.. He is aggressive and can fully observe the defensive players to gain an advantage, which is exactly why he is so good. ”

It is worth mentioning that Alexander defeated at least one old teammate in every round of the playoffs this season. He defeated World Cup teammate Zach Eddie in the first round, and the Nuggets defeated Olympic teammate Jamal Murray in the second round, and the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, defeated his cousin Alexander Walker. On the finals stage, this candidate became Nembhard.

12-pick dialogue: Jaylen Williams and Halliburton

Review of the calendar The 12th overall pick in the draft, this position can be regarded as the lowest star-flavored position in the entire lottery range of the NBA.

In 1989, Hawks guard Much Brelock, who was 12th overall pick in the first round, was selected as the only All-Star in his career. In the following 30 years, no player with 12th overall pick could be selected as the All-Star.

Although all-stars are rare, there are still many high-quality players in this position, such as Nick Collison, Sadies Young, and Jeremy Lamb. The players also need many outstanding players who are active in the league teams.

However, judging from the player's career achievements, the 12th pick is far behind the 13th pick, such as Kobe, Lavender, Booker, Mitchell, etc., and Adebayo, Drexler, Tim Hardaway, and Peja in the 14th pick, and Antetokounmpo, Nash, and Leonard in the 15th pick.

Since Muqi Brelock, the All-Star qualification from the 12th pick has been vacant for 33 years. It was not until Halliburton and Jewish appeared that the drought situation was broken. The former was selected as All-Star in 2023 and 2024, while the latter was selected as All-Star this season. Both of them were selected as All-Stars this season, and now they have reached the finals at the same time.

As for who of these two can be the first to add a championship trophy on their resume, we will wait and see.