Rival Superstar Praises Pacers as Organization to Emulate

“When you look at the Finals, and I was talking about this a lot with my friends, I think the two teams that seemed the most together went to the Finals,” Gobert said. “I think Indiana wasn’t necessarily the most talented team in the East, but they went to the Finals because I felt like they were the most together team."

The Essence of Teamwork

This notion of cohesion guiding the Pacers past the New York Knicks — who were fresh off an upset of the reigning champion Boston Celtics, which was looking inevitable even before Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in Game 4 — and the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers is fascinating.

It's not like Indiana wasn't talented. Haliburton was named to his second All-NBA Third Team, essentially certifying him as one of the best 15 players in the league, while Siakam made his third All-Star squad. But the club finished with a good-not-great 50-32 record during the regular season, enough to earn the East's No. 4 seed.

"And in those moments of adversity, I don’t know how many times they came back from being down six, seven points in the last minute, but it doesn’t happen if you’re not together, if you don’t believe in your teammates, if you’re not poised through adversity and I think OKC is the same way differently, but the same way.”

That Pacers magic really got impressive during the Finals, when they pushed the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games. Had Haliburton not undergone an Achilles rupture of his own, their two-way flow may have guided them to their first-ever NBA title this summer.

“I think it shows that chemistry is really, really important and teamwork is really, really important,” Gobert said.

Sadly for Indiana, the team didn't just lose Haliburton for the balance of the 2025-26 season this summer. After 10 years, 3-and-D rim-rolling center Myles Turner departed in free agency, inking a four-season, $108.9 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, two key cogs in that connected first five are gone — although Haliburton, at least, will be back.

“I think it’s super, super important when you get deep into the playoffs when you have the whole world watching you and talking about you and ready to tear you down or spread you apart any opportunity they get," Gobert said. "I think being able to connect with your teammates and share the same goal is huge and OKC had that and Indiana had that.”

Unlike the Pacers, Gobert's Minnesota Timberwolves will be healthy and will be able to bring back all of their first five next year — but lost reserve wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the Atlanta Hawks, and seem to be in jeopardy of losing their semi-elite status in the Western Conference thanks to the summer team-building of the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets.