3x NBA All-Star Shares Harsh Truth On Pacers-Thunder Finals Matchup

“Let’s just be honest. When it comes to small-market teams, we don’t remember much about them. We don’t really talk about the Toronto championship, we don’t talk about the Bucks-Giannis championship. With this one, the only memorable thing was the Hali game-winner in Game 1," Arenas said.

"Other than that, there was nothing really in this Finals that makes you say, ‘Oh my god, this was the great Finals.'” Obviously, Tyrese Haliburton going down with an Achilles injury in Game 7 didn't help, as the Pacers were out of the game by the end of the third quarter. Had he been healthy and made it a close game down the stretch, perhaps the series would be remembered differently.

With the NBA having a different champion every year since 2019, perhaps a big market team like the New York Knicks can make the Finals next season and draw some more attention to it. However, there are plenty of smaller market teams that are building their way up to contender status, so a big market Finals might not be coming around the corner as soon as Arenas would like.