The NBA Finals are finally here, and what a matchup we have. Victor Wembanyama and the upstart San Antonio Spurs vs. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks. One franchise is trying to reboot a dynasty; the other is starved for a long-overdue title.
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Before the season, no one saw this coming, especially with the Spurs, who are led by a young core of recent draft picks, including Wembanyama, in their early 20s. Can the youngsters carry San Antonio all the way to the title? Our Rohan Nadkarni teamed up with the NBC News graphics team to dive in and see how these Spurs compare with other recent NBA champions.
We’ll be live-blogging the game tonight, so be sure to come hang with us. We’ll have more coverage in tomorrow’s newsletter and, as always, on the NBC News website.
NBA Finals
In addition to having Wembanyama, a 7-foot-4 alien who can shoot, pass, dribble and single-handedly stop elite offenses from getting to the rim, what makes the San Antonio Spurs’ run to the NBA Finals unique is that they possess what most champions typically lack: youth.
When the NBA’s championship round tips off tonight, the Spurs will be looking to become the youngest finals winner in recent NBA history.
NBC News analyzed the average ages of NBA champions’ playoff rotations since 2016, and San Antonio would be the youngest team to win a title — out-young-ing last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Spurs rotation’s average age is 24.4, while their opponent, the New York Knicks, are coming in at a relatively ancient 28.8.
Compared with the overall average championship age of 27.8, San Antonio is 3.4 years younger, while the Knicks are 1.0 years older.
To read the full NBC News story comparing the Spurs’ age with that of recent champions, including charts from our graphics team, click here.
Stanley Cup Final
During the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Carolina left no doubt it was this postseason’s most dominant team. The Hurricanes went 12-1, flattening opponents by applying the kind of smooth, inevitable pressure that would make a Zamboni driver jealous. Little had seemingly changed last night when the Stanley Cup Final began.
Within 25 seconds, Carolina had taken a 1-0 lead when Nikolaj Ehlers scored on his team’s first shot on goal, the fastest goal in a finals opening game in 50 years. The lead grew to 2-0 later in the first period thanks to Ehlers, again.
But don’t start scheduling the parade in Raleigh quite yet.
Las Vegas scored three unanswered goals to lead 3-2, and after the teams lodged a 4-4 tie, the Golden Knights’ Tomas Hertl took a whip-around pass from Colton Sissons and ripped the game-winning goal above Carolina goaltender Frederik Andersen to give the Golden Knights a stunning 1-0 series lead.
Vegas is the first team in NHL history to win Game 1 of the final on the road after trailing by multiple goals, according to the league, and they are the first road team to open the title round with a Game 1 win since 2015, not including the 2020 “bubble” final.
What made the result so surprising was that it went completely against the script. Carolina had allowed the fewest goals per game of any Eastern Conference team in these playoffs. Vegas, meanwhile, had ranked first in the West. Andersen and his Vegas goaltender counterpart, Carter Hart, owned the best save percentages, too. Yet both teams saw their defenses exposed.
League officials displayed the 34.5-pound silver championship trophy on the ice before the game, and for a while, it seemed it would be staying in Carolina. But seeing how Game 1 went, don’t be so sure.
World Cup Countdown
Leading up to the 2026 World Cup, we’re counting down 26 players to watch. Today’s entry is Croatia’s Luka Modrić.
Eight years ago, in 2018, Luka Modrić was the best soccer player on the planet. That year, he won his third consecutive Champions League title with Real Madrid, and he led Croatia to the country’s first World Cup final. Though Croatia lost to France, 4-2, Modrić won the Golden Ball award, given to the tournament’s best player.
By the end of the year, Modrić had won the Ballon d’Or, too, the prestigious award given to the world’s best player. He was the first player not named Messi or Ronaldo to win it in about a decade.
Four years later, at 36 years old, Modrić shone again at the 2022 World Cup. He led Croatia to the semifinals, where they lost to Messi and Argentina, who went on to win the whole thing. Modrić won the Bronze Ball, awarded to the tournament’s third-best player.
Now 40 years old, Modrić’s career is nearing an end. After spending 13 years with Real Madrid, he’s now playing with AC Milan. In April, he broke his cheekbone during a match, but he’s expected to be back in time to play in one final World Cup this summer. He’s one of a number of legends we could be seeing for the last time on this stage, along with Messi and Ronaldo.
Croatia isn’t near the top of the world rankings and isn’t expected to finish in the top three like it did at the previous two World Cups. But perhaps Modrić and Croatia can surprise everyone and make one more run. It’d be a fitting capstone to the best period in Croatian soccer history.
At his peak, Modrić was a classic No. 10, a playmaking midfielder who could control the ball as if it were attached to his foot by a string. The question is: Does Modrić have any magic left in those feet?
Yesterday’s entry was Germany’s Jamal Musiala. Read about him here.
What We’re Reading
Tim Ream, the U.S. men’s soccer team captain, uses Lego sets to manage his mental health.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams will be on the cover of the Madden video game this year.
The Los Angeles Rams had an introductory news conference for Myles Garrett, and Les Snead, the Rams’ general manager, spoke about the team’s long pursuit of the defensive end.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka lost at the French Open after holding a commanding lead.
What We’re Watching
The NBA Finals tip off tonight. Will the Knicks make history? Or will Wembanyama and the Spurs announce their arrival? A reminder: We’ll be live-blogging the game, so come hang out with us for real-time updates and analysis from our expert team. We might throw in some jokes and levity, too.
All times are Eastern:
- 7:05 p.m.: Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees, on Amazon Prime
- 8:30 p.m.: New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs, on ABC
That’s it for now! We’ll be back tomorrow.
