The 2025 NBA Finals are right around the corner, with Game 1 set for Thursday, June 5. This is a battle between two franchises starved for its first NBA Championship in team history after not making it back to this stage since 2000 (Pacers) and 2012 (Thunder) respectively. These chances only comeby so often in a players career and are never guaranteed to happen again. That creates the sense of desperation and all-out-effort that you see on the hardwood and leads to NBA Finals memories. At Finals Media Day on Thursday, superstar Tyrese Haliburton dished on what this stage means to him personally. “No, I’m excited to be here. Obviously, the Finals is a very special thing, something I wanted to be a part of my whole life. To be here means the world. I’m just taking it all in, soaking it all in. Really excited for this moment,” Haliburton said of the NBA Finals stage. En route to the NBA Finals, the Indiana Pacers ran into severe weather and had to make an unexpected landing in Tulsa, OK., which added an extra hurdle to the busy travel day leading into the NBA Finals Media day on Wednesday and the upcoming Game 1 on Thursday. The Pacers’ superstar explained what the day was like. “As far as yesterday, we took off, and I slept the whole plane ride, which I don’t normally do. We landed, I was ready to get up. They said we were in Tulsa. We sat there for another hour. Then took off again. Felt like we were in the air for another hour and a half. What time did we land? 7:00? Normally like 8:00 back home. So, like a five-hour travel day. We might as well travel to Portland,” Haliburton explained. “Yeah, it’s a long travel day. What can you do? None of us can control the weather. There’s worse problems in life. We’ll be fine.” This is a great perspective from Haliburton on the mindset he and the Pacers share following that long layoff. While there were extra hurdles to clear, the Pacers are now set for the series to begin on Thursday. Rylan Stiles is a credentialed media member covering the Oklahoma City Thunder. He hosts the Locked On Thunder Podcast, and is Lead Beat Writer for Inside the Thunder. Rylan is also an award-winning play-by-play broadcaster for the Oklahoma Sports Network.