The Last Time OKC and Indy Went to the NBA Finals
The world was different then.
It’s been a while since the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder have been in the NBA Finals. The league and the world have changed quite a bit since their last visits.
So, I thought I’d revisit and sum up what it was like back then.
Let’s start with the Indiana Pacers, who last made it to the NBA Finals in 2000.
What Happened In 1999-2000
In 1999-00, the Los Angeles Lakers were the best team in the NBA. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led them to a league-high 67 wins.
The next best team was the Portland Trail Blazers, who won 59 games.
In the East, the Reggie Miller-led Indiana Pacers led the conference with 56 wins.
Shaq was the best (and most dominant) player in the NBA (MVP) and the league's future was in the hands of the Chicago Bulls’ Elton Brand and the Houston Rockets’ Steve Francis, who shared the Rookie of the Year honours.
The Miami Heat’s Alonzo Mourning was the scariest player to go up against (Defensive Player of the Year), and the Phoenix Suns’ Rodney Rodgers was someone you had to pay attention to off of the bench (Sixth Man of the Year).
The Pacers’ Jalen Rose had the biggest skill jump (Most Improved Player), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Eric Snow was the cleanest player in the league (Sportsmanship Award), and the Orlando Magic’s Doc Rivers was the best strategist (Coach of the Year).
Additionally, Shaq was the scoring champ (29.7 ppg), the Atlanta Hawks’ Dikembe Mutombo was the rebounds leader (14.1 rpg), the Suns’ Jason Kidd was the assists leader (10.1 apg), the Charlotte Hornets’ Eddie Jones was the steals leader (2.67 spg), and Mourning was the blocks leader (3.72 bpg).
The Pacers were the best team in the East in the regular season and maintained this identity in the playoffs.
They defeated Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson’s Milwaukee Bucks in the first round (5 games), Allen Iverson’s Philadelphia 76ers in the Semifinals (6 games), and Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston’s New York Knicks in the Conference Finals (6 games).
However, they would meet their match in the Finals.
The Lakers had too much firepower and there was nothing the Pacers could do to slow Shaq and Kobe down.
Thus, the Lakers defeated the Pacers in six games.
Shaq was named the Finals MVP after averaging 38 points on 61 percent shooting, 16.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 assists.
Current Events
While people were glued to their television sets watching the NBA, a handful of notable events happened in the world.
Nearly everyone was afraid of Y2K, Sponge Bob Square Pants premiered, Eminem’s “The Marshall Mather’s LP” was released, Napster disrupted the music industry, the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan, and Nintendo announced the production of the GameCube.
Additionally, President Bill Clinton headlined news stations.
He became the first president to visit Vietnam since the Vietnam War ended, and was put on impeachment trial, which ended with his acquittal.
His wife, Hilary Clinton, also made headlines for becoming the first First Lady to win public office.
That pretty much sums up what happened in 1999-2000.
Sources For Current Events:
https://www.historic-newspapers.com/en-ca/blogs/article/1999-events?country=CA
https://www.historic-newspapers.com/en-ca/blogs/article/2000-events?country=CA
What Happened In 2011-12
Now, onto the last time the Thunder made the NBA Finals.
It was 2011-12 and this season started off with a lockout. Teams only played 66 regular-season games.
The San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls each led the league with 50 wins.
The Thunder, led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, were the second-best team in the West with 47 wins.
The Miami Heat’s LeBron James won his third MVP title this season and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving was the Rookie of the Year.
The New York Knicks’ Tyson Chandler won Defensive Player of the Year, OKC’s James Harden was the Sixth Man of the Year, the Orlando Magic’s Ryan Anderson was the Most Improved Player, the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Kidd won the Sportsmanship Award and the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich was the Coach of the Year.
Durant led the NBA in points per game, the Magic’s Dwight Howard in rebounds, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo in assists, the L.A. Clippers’ Chris Paul in steals, and the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka in blocks.
The most points scored in a game was 57 by the Utah Jazz’s Deron Williams. The most rebounds grabbed was 30 by the Los Angeles Lakers’ Andrew Bynum and the most assists recorded was 20 by the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo. The Jazz’s Williams also achieved this.
The Denver Nuggets’ Ty Lawson, Clippers’ Chris Paul, Memphis Grizzlies’ Tony Allen, and Jazz’s Paul Milsap all recorded league-highs in steals with 8.
And Ibaka recorded the most blocks in a game with 11.
The Thunder had a relatively easy go in the playoffs, where, in order of rounds, they swept the Mavericks, beat the Lakers in 5, and then defeated the Spurs in 6.
However, their youth and inexperience showed in the NBA Finals as the Heatles’ Miami Heat defeated them in 5 games.
LeBron won his first NBA title and was named the Finals MVP after averaging 28.6 points on 47.2 percent shooting, 10.2 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.6 steals.
Current Events
And while all of this was going on on the hardwood, the world was talking about the Game of Thrones series premiere and Charlie Sheen getting fired from Two and a Half Men.
People were also dancing and lip-synching to Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” braiding their hair like the Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen, and buying all of James Bond’s (who was portrayed by Daniel Craig) gear from Skyfall.
Additionally, Taylor Swift released Red, and Goyte’s “Somebody I Used to Know” was bumping on every radio worldwide.
Gun control, natural disasters, and war were the talk of news stations.
During the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, a mass shooting occurred in a theatre in Aurora, Colorado, which prompted discussions about gun control in America.
Japan was hit by a 9.1 earthquake that triggered a tsunami and the meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and the US’s east coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy.
Osama Bin Laden was killed after a 10-year manhunt, the Arab Spring swept the Arab World with pro-democracy demonstrations, a Civil War in Syria escalated, a U.S. diplomatic compound was attacked in the Benghazi Attacks, and Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a third term as Russia’s President.
And Barack Obama, who won his second presidential term in 2012, was the U.S. President while all of this was happening.
Oh, and the Occupy Wall Street movement was spreading all across the U.S.
And that’s really all that happened during these two NBA seasons.
Sources For The Current Events: