Welcome To The New Era In The NBA: For The Second Straight Season, We're About To See A Star Player Become A First Time Champion No Matter Who Wins

With the current group of NBA legends (LeBron, KD, Steph, etc) rounding out the back 9 of their careers, it was unavoidable that the league as a whole was going to transition into their next era. They've carried the torch for the last 20+ years while giving us some of the best moments in league history, but as they say, nobody beats Father Time. Eventually, there was going to be a world in the NBA where it was up to the next wave of talent to pick up that torch and continue to push the league forward.

In 2024, we got out first look of what that could look like. The Final 4 that year included an entirely new fresh group of teams/stars/superstars where no matter who made it out of that final gauntlet, someone was going to win their first ever title.

Thankfully (in terms of my rooting interest), that player ended up being Jayson Tatum. If you could allow me 2 seconds to cope, that'd be great

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

OK, thank you.

Now in 2025, we're right back in the same position when you look at the final 4 teams standing. No matter who makes it out alive in this grouping, we're going to see a star/superstar/whatever win their first ever title. Haliburton/Ant get another shot after coming up short last year, and now Brunson/SGA are given their first shot at glory.

Maybe I'm alone here, but I think this rules. As bummed as I am that the Celts didn't make it through and that Tatum's Achilles is destroyed, there is something to be said about ushering in this new wave of the NBA. While seeing LeBron/Steph/KD etc is always fun, at some point the time was going to come to turn the page and move on, and seeing as how we've had back to back seasons of first time champs who are all young players who are going to carry the league for the next decade, I actually prefer this result as opposed to yet another LeBron or Steph run. Been there, done that. It's time for the next generation.

Given the new CBA and how devastating it is when it comes to keeping contending teams and cores together, you have to think this is what we can expect moving forward. Depending on who your favorite team is, you may not love that reality. We're seeing it already with teams like BOS/CLE/DEN who are going to be gutted/boned due to the 2nd apron and this new CBA, and eventually we're going to get to that point with the OKC/NYK/MIN's of the world as well. It's simply unavoidable. Gone are the days when drafting well and hitting on young talent combined with making smart front office moves buys you a decade of contention. You can thank CJ McCollum, Grant Williams, and the NBAPA for that.

While part of me doesn't love the fact that sustained contention/success is now a billion times harder in this new era of the NBA, I do sneaky kind of like how every year we have the potential to see young stars win their first title, especially since we're all looking for the guys who are going to be the LeBron/Steph/KDs of the next generation. So while the CBA is mostly a disaster, that part of it is kind of fun. Not only are the matchups we get intriguing from a basketball standpoint, but you could also make a case that we're seeing the legacies for these guys be written in real time, just like it was for Tatum last year.

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So if you're a fan of a team that has a young star player and you're hoping that one day they finally reach the top of the mountain, everything we've seen over the last 2 years tells us that there's no better time in NBA history for that to happen.