The present of American basketball against a brilliant past that refuses to die in oblivion: that could well be the central theme of the NBA Finals 2022 clash between Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. Without a doubt, a generational clash that will be decided no later than June 19.
The first episode of this battle was for the Celtics who beat the Warriors on the road at the Chase Center by a score of 108-120, in a game that seemed lost for the visitors until the last quarter when they waved their wand and their magic changed everything.
Boston Celtics' heroes, who have their fans dreaming of ending a 14-year drought without winning an NBA championship, were Jaylen Brown, who scored 24 points, Jayson Tatum with 12 points and 13 assists, and Dominican Republic native Al Horford, who used his experience to score 25 points.
Golden State Warriors wins a fan in Mychal Thompson
The NBA Finals are not exclusive to the couple of lucky and talented franchises that get to play in it, it is a window for all fans of this sport to appreciate elite basketball. It can even be the case that the teams involved gain fans, as happened to the Golden State Warriors with former player Mychal Thompson.
Thompson is a historic former NBA player who debuted with the Portland Trail Blazers and played one season with the San Antonio Spurs before joining his beloved team, Lakers. He spent four seasons with the Los Angeles team, where he won two championships. Undoubtedly his most brilliant period on the court.
Mychal Thompson gave his first words as a Warriors fan with a past as a Los Angeles Laker: "We are all Warriors fans now. They have to do us a favor and keep us tied with Boston. We can't let them get to 18 before us." stated in a chat with ESPN.
The equation is simple: if the Golden State Warriors fail to stop and surpass the Boston Celtics, they would displace the Lakers to become the single winningest franchise in NBA history with 18 titles: "Dr. Buss always would say losing is bad enough but losing to the Celtics was not tolerable," said Thompson, who defeated Celtics in 1987 to contribute to Lakers' coronation, in allusion to the mentality injected by the former owner of the Los Angeles' team from 1979 to 2006.