Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Above The Board podcast is a unique blend of NBA opinion, stats, and culture. Host of Above The Board Kebron Hailu covers the NBA from all angles — from stats and game breakdowns to player stories and league culture. Whether it’s the NBA Finals, Draft, or free agency, we’re talking hoops the way fans actually watch and think about the game. Expect honest takes, smart analysis, and a real love for basketball.
0:00:00
What's up y'all? Welcome back to another episode of A Bud Aboard. I'm your host, Kebron. It's Monday, June 23, 2025, in the Oklahoma City Center of the NBA Champs. Man, what a year, what a season for this team. They beat the Pacers 103-91 in game seven.
0:00:22
And I mean, what an emotional roller coaster for both sides. Hadley injured six minutes into the game. That was real sad and it's cause he had to be out there. Anybody questioning why he was out there, it's just game seven in the finals so everybody knows this is it for a player that you know we don't know if they're ever gonna come back to this spot and it's sad man.
0:00:42
Everybody knew that that was an Achilles right when he just went to the ground. It's just so similar to the KD situation where you just knew it off the rip. The circumstances of this game and he just had to be out there. I had a lot of takeaways from this game.
0:00:55
I think a lot of people thought the Pacers would just bow down when Hadley got injured, but this team is just so good in so many different ways. They just got so many ball handlers that it was actually competitive all the way up until the third where Carlisle made some coaching decisions that I just didn't agree with. I mean, just to start off the game,
0:01:16
these coaches been iffy, both sides. I can't believe that Mark actually started the double bigs for this game seven. And if Halle played this whole game who knows what it could have been like but the double bigs got got clinked up right away they were minus 4 to start off the game lost their minutes 10-14.
0:01:36
Caruso gets subbed in and Caruso hits back to back threes to take the lead and it was like in one minute and I mean at, at first, them Thunderboys, they looked real nervous, especially J-Dub. He kept getting on the ground, kept turning the ball over. And every time he drove to the rim, I don't even think the ball was in the rim.
0:01:54
And I thought he was gonna have one of those Game 7 Harden type of clunkers. But he shook back in the second half. I can say that. He shook back in the second half. I can say that. He shook back in the second half. SGA was on bully mode early. At first, their offense was kind of struggling. The Pacers just kept making shots, kept making
0:02:11
shots and just wouldn't go away. Nembhard was killing them on the pick and rolls. I don't know what it is. Nembhard has one of those plays every single game where he make you look at the screen Like, ew, like, oh, what are you, he hit Chet with some, oh my God, he hit Chet with some crazy on that step back on that wing. They took the lead and went up 48-47 at the half and you just kept asking yourself, can they do it again? Can this team do something that we all don't think
0:02:37
they can do? I think Mark adjusted real well and he finally, finally started Crusoe. Something that we've been asking for all series, all playoffs, he finally waited till his back was against the wall and yeah, he started Crusoe
0:02:53
in the second half and the avalanche just started. Crusoe was just a menace everywhere defensively. They forced 10 turnovers in that third quarter and they just took over. And Carlot man, that guy needs a lot of smoke. He's gonna walk away from this free
0:03:08
because Hadley got injured, but his coaching decision is why ultimately they lost that game, man. We saw Thomas Bryan in an NBA Finals game seven. Come on bro, what are you doing? They went to stretch for seven minutes without Siakam. They put Siakam on a bench for seven minutes
0:03:30
and had Thomas Bryant and Tony Bradley actually playing real NBA minutes. And not only that, what's it called? Mathurn was on the bench, Nembhard was on the bench, Neesmith was on the bench, Miles Turner was on the bench. It was Ben Shepard, Tony Bradley, Thomas Bryant playing actual minutes with TJ out there. TJ scored 12
0:03:50
I think he scored like 12 points in a row, but Carlisle, bro, like why are you trying to play Einstein in the middle of a game 7? Your best player's already injured. You need to play Siakam at least 40 minutes. Now Siakam, this wasn't his best game, but like, come on, bro. Thomas Bryant played for what, one minute,
0:04:10
and he got smoked. I don't know what he doing coming to the game thinking he could shoot a three off the rip, and then he gets smoked defensively. There was just so many times in this series where Carlisle's just trying to be smarter than what he actually needs to be.
0:04:26
And I know he's a basketball genius and all that, but I feel like a lot of these coaches, they just get into their own head and they just got so much ego. I don't know. And Mathurin had 24 in his game seven.
0:04:40
What, I think he played what, eight minutes last game? So you keep asking yourself, why are you taking this player on an emotional rollercoaster like this? He's one of your best players. And I don't want to give Carlisle too much smoke.
0:04:53
I know he, yes, I know, I know Halle was injured and he has to go to different things and try different things, but we're not out here experimenting in a game seven. That's not what you're supposed to do. The game just took off when SGA just, SGA had a stretch that he just took over the game.
0:05:12
I think he hit a three, and then he drove past to a three from, to Chet, Chet hits a three, and then I know he had this little crazy acrobatic pass to the corner for J-Dub, and then J-Dub hits the three.
0:05:25
And these were back-to-back plays, and ultimately a 9-0 lead, and it just started it. It was just too much for the Pacers. 19-2 run from OKC from the third to fourth. Indiana was scoreless from the one minute 49 in the third, all the way to the fourth quarter in the 7.30.
0:05:44
And yeah, SCA was just kill hunting the whole fourth quarter so he stunk up his stats but he still ended up with a pretty good stat line. I think he finished with 29-12, only one turnover and I gave him a lot of smoke last game for them turnovers that he had in game six. You know, he got the job done and that's all you can ask for. He's still not a point guard.
0:06:04
I don't care what anybody tries to tell me. But nonetheless, that's how you go hoop. I mean, I just love the way they played today. Defensively, they were just so locked in. And I just loved how Chet, Chet only had two, three attempts in this game and that's all we've been asking him to do.
0:06:22
I think he finished with 18 points. You're seven foot, bro. Stop trying to be Curry. You're seven foot. Ultimately, it was just too much. Too much for the Pacers. And just what a year.
0:06:35
What a year from Shea. This is one of the best years that I've ever seen. Scoring title, MVP on a 68 win team, Western Conference Finals MVP, NBA Champion, Finals MVP, and I believe this is the most wins in a single season in NBA history after the 2016
0:06:53
Warriors and 96 Bulls. I think the Thunders won 84 games this year. I don't want to call this team an all-time team, but they are a great team. The talk around the league and the talk around the media, the talk around Twitter is just one of the best teams in recent years.
0:07:11
And a lot of people don't believe so. And I'm not, I just don't understand why every year now, it's just like everybody's just trying to discredit a team and say, we don't like the way this team plays or this team has this flaw, this team, they win the chip, bro. They win the chip. And you can't hate on them, man.
0:07:32
You can't hate on a team like this. They're all like 23 years old. We don't know how good this team is actually gonna be. Did I believe this roster was good enough to win 68 games this year? No. I think Shade just completely took over this whole year,
0:07:46
and he just had one of those runs. But, that doesn't mean that they're not gonna be better next year, or they're gonna be better the year after that. All of this takes time, and- and- and the reason why this run is so crazy is
0:08:00
how fast they did this. They did this within three years. Three years ago, they were in the lottery. Everything took a turn when they drafted Chet and Jadub and traded for Shae. This team was out here getting 70-pieced a couple years ago. A lot of teams, it takes 10 years to develop something like this.
0:08:19
And how quickly this turnaround is unique. I don't know when we're gonna see this again, man. I just don't know when we're gonna see this again, man. I just don't understand when we're gonna see this again. For the Pacers, where do they go from here? The Pacers have a team where I don't think they're just gonna become a lottery team
0:08:37
or anything like that. I think we'll get a special year from Nembhard and Mather, and it's just sad that we're gonna see a whole year miss from Hadley. I don't know how he's gonna look when he comes back, but he's so young that I'm just not gonna give up on him.
0:08:53
And Achilles is one of those injuries where you don't know how good a player could really come back, but KD gives me hope. If KD could do it, well I don't wanna say if KD could do it cause KD's winning hope. If KD could do it, well I don't wanna say if KD could do it, cause KD's one in a lifetime player, but the medicine around and the doctors we got nowadays,
0:09:10
I feel like Hadley definitely could bounce back. And one thing I wanted to talk about around the league is speaking of KD, KD traded to Houston for Jalen Green, Dylan Brooks, first round pick and five second round picks I believe. On paper this team is interesting. They could have an interesting year.
0:09:33
Do I believe this is enough for them to win a chip? I don't know yet, I don't know yet. I gotta see it first. They still start Fred Van Lee and they have no shooting guards right now. Like their best shooting guard is Reese Shepherd. I think the re Shepherd could be a great player, but he's like 20 years old and barely touching that be a game yet
0:09:51
But I just like how big their team is I think Steven Adams seven foot sanguine seven foot Jabari 610 Katie's Supposedly seven foot a montage of six eight. I think this team's gonna give people real problems defensively. And this is a team where KD doesn't need to be the best defender on the court.
0:10:12
And he hasn't had that in a couple of years. I be trolling KD, but he actually plays on the defensive side. The second he adding the 27 point scorer is something that, you know, where you gotta turn your head up and be like wow okay.
0:10:26
And a lot of people just hate Jalen Green. I can't believe the player Jalen Green has become now and the reports are that Phoenix doesn't want to move Jalen Green at all. They want they want him to stay in Phoenix and develop him and people just quit on Jalen Green. I'm just going I'm gonna let him live. I quit on Jalen Green.
0:10:45
I'm just going, I'm gonna let him live. I'm gonna let him live. He's young, bro. He's very young. Yes, he should be better than what he is right now, but I thought he had a great regular season.
0:10:57
Now all-star worthy, but it wasn't too bad. I'm just not going to judge him too hard for the series he had against the Warriors. I thought the Warriors had the second best defense this year. They made him look real bad in that series. Getting KD for only Jalen Green and Dylan Brooks
0:11:14
isn't a bad decision. Isn't a bad decision. One first round's not gonna hurt you and those five second round picks, that's nothing. That you could get that back. You could get that back for one player. And the best thing for Houston in this
0:11:26
was that they didn't give up Tari Eson. They didn't give up Jabari. They didn't give up Reese Sheppard. A lot of people thought the asking price for KD was a lot higher than this, but I thought this was right around where it should be.
0:11:39
KD's 37, bro. And I thought this was fair from both sides. That really lost in this trade was the Suns. I mean, what's going on in that organization? You still got Bradley Bill on contract, you got D-Book, and now you got Jalen Green.
0:11:58
So you got three shooting guards that like the ball, you have no point guard. Ty Jones just didn't look that good this year. And yeah, that roster is garbage. I don't think they can even make a play-in team. There's just, I don't know what's going on over there.
0:12:17
Just three years ago, this team won 64 games and was in the NBA Finals. Two games away from an NBA championship. This is what it is now Jalen Green Bradley Bill Ty's Jones done I
0:12:33
Mean what's what's going on in that organization? They have failed to reconstruct this roster around Booker in so many different ways. They traded away Aidan Mikkel, Cam. They literally have nobody to blame but themselves for this. It's like, why would KD want to stay on a roster like this? It was so obvious that he would leave. It was so obvious. And I don't blame him, man. I don't know what they running over there. And then another team I want to give smoke
0:13:01
to is the Miami Heat. They coulda easily got KD. But... Pat Riley's running a Ponzi scheme over there in Miami. I don't know what dude is doing. He didn't wanna give up... Highsmith. Is that why you didn't get KD?
0:13:15
You're gonna tell your fans that you didn't wanna give up Highsmith? Or Khalil Ware? Like, Khalil Ware is a good... Prospect. He's a good prospect, he's a good rookie, but come on bro, what's with this gas on this player too? I don't get it, I don't understand these teams bro, they make so many weird decisions all the time.
0:13:33
It's like the Warriors. The Warriors don't wanna give up positive Moses Moody. In a year like this, if they gave up positive Moses Moody earlier in the year, they probably would've won the the chip they would have probably won a game or two when Curry got injured but it is what it is I don't want to start ranting about random things but anyways I hopped on Twitter this morning and people are doing what
0:13:58
they do best a lot of people are ranking their last seven NBA championships and where the 2025 Thunders fall on that list. And I kept seeing the Lakers number one on that list, I think Boston second, and I seen a lot of people having the 2023 Nuggets on that list. And I think that Nuggets team tricked y'all, man.
0:14:20
Bro, they beat the Heat, the A.C. Heat in the finals. All right, how can that be? How can that even be remotely a top three team in the last seven years? I think this 2025 Thunder's team is easily better than that team.
0:14:32
Is this Thunder's team better than 2022 Warriors? I don't believe so. With this Thunder's team, they're just so young. So I don't think this is the best they're gonna be. And when you say this team don't think this is the best they're gonna be and when you say this is this team isn't as good as what they're gonna be ultimately in a couple years people are gonna look back and be like you said this and that nah I just
0:14:51
don't think they're at where they're gonna ultimately be in the future right now the way this roster is constructed they're just flawed offensively they don't have great passers there they don't have too many ball handlers. They don't have a lot of shooters. And a lot of times they'll often get stagnant. Their offense is just not that good, to be honest.
0:15:15
A lot of their offense is, SGA, go out there, get 30. J-Dub, go out there, go get us 23. Go get us 22 on ISOs, you know? And we're just gonna hound you defensively, and we're gonna turn defense to offense.
0:15:32
Now defensively, this is probably one of the best defensive teams we've ever seen. Like, all time, no joke. This team was ridiculous on the defensive side. And ultimately, they were SGA and an all-time defense, and that's why they won the NBA championship before I get out of here I wanted to talk a couple things about the draft which is only two days away
0:15:52
and that's why I love when a finals goes you know six seven games is because the draft is just a couple days right after that and uh the Spurs came out and said they're they're not looking to trade the number two pick whatsoever and they're prioritizing on drafting Dylan Harper, which is the right decision for this team man and a lot of people keep questioning why they want to pick Dylan Harper even though they have Fox and Castle. I don't think people really understand how good this guy is.
0:16:18
I haven't seen somebody drive to the paint like that in a long time bro. He gets to the rim so easily that it's just hard for me to not see this guy become an instant 20 point scorer in the league like off the rip you know in a year or two. He's special bro and I'm glad the Spurs are making decisions like this. I think Dylan Harper and Victor in the future ultimately could win you an NBA championships if you make the right decisions and right now the Spurs are making all the right decisions. They went and got Fox, they have a Vassell on their roster,
0:16:47
they went and got Castle, and they're prioritizing picking the best player on the board, and Dylan is that right after Cooper. And another thing is I keep seeing this Ace Bailey thing, and this saga is just so interesting to me because I've seen mock drafts
0:17:05
where they've had this guy fall into 15, 16. My homie Simba said they're trying to shador him and that's exactly what's going on. This is a top three player in this draft. Any team that passes up on them is making the wrong decision.
0:17:21
Stop being so hard on these 18 year olds. They're 18 year old, they're emotional, they want certain things, they have an ego, whatever it is, it doesn't matter. The Sixers should still draft Ace Bailey. But they're not gonna do that
0:17:35
because we all know what the Sixers do. They make dumb decisions. And if they pass up on Ace Bailey, they're gonna regret it. And any team that pass up on Ace Bailey, they're gonna regret it. And any team that pass up on Ace Bailey, they're gonna regret it.
0:17:46
I'm seeing mock drafts of Conker Nipple and Edgecombe. Man, I don't even wanna say the players that people are drafting over Ace Bailey on their mock draft. It's just stupid to me, it's stupid. Bro, stop overthinking this type of stuff. Ace Bailey's gonna clearly be a good NBA player.
0:18:08
Stop trying to look too hard. I don't even want to go to a whole different sport, but it's like Jalen Carter. Everybody knew Jalen Carter was gonna be good. Every single person, and he still failed because people be trying to play Einstein. Stop doing that. Jalen Carter went and impacted a whole Super Bowl. And he fell in the draft,
0:18:31
even though everybody knew he was a top three player in that draft. I just hate when stuff like this happens when a player is clearly good enough to be a top three player, and then pre-draft,
0:18:41
they start making up all sorts of things about these kids, and all of a sudden they fall. How is Ace Bailey a top three player all year, but now we're getting mock drafts of him being late lottery or even outside the lottery? It just doesn't make sense to me. Stuff like that never makes sense to me. And Ace Bailey should be clearly a top three player. I'm going to have a whole pre-mock draft podcast. So I just, I don't want to get too animated in here.
0:19:08
It was lovely having y'all, man.