Stiles Points: Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals Great Basketball, Regardless of Ratings

Let the complaining commence as the NBA Finals are set between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Coastal elitists in the NBA Media are shivering at the thought of landing in a pair of flyover states to cover a basketball game for a living.

The TV executives have a right to cringe as the casual fan will shove aside the Pacers and Thunder matchup regardless of the beautiful basketball set to be played on the hardwood without the draw of a time-tested franchise such as the Boston Celtics or larger than life legend like LeBron James.

However, that doesn't matter. No one reading this or watching the game will have their lives shaped in any way by the TV share any of these seven games net. Not even the League itself. The ink isn't even dry on the NBA's new record-breaking TV pact with its partners, ratings won't come into play until negotiations a decade away, when the household numbers from the 2025 NBA Finals are a distant memory pressed between the pages of our minds.

That will not stop each segment on National TV, Podcasts and Radio shows from featuring 20 minutes of ratings talk after each game. It will not halt media members who are paid by outlets to travel and stay in these two small market cities from complaining about the lack of nightlife in between doing their cushy jobs. Don't shed a single tear for the alleged harmful conditions of this work trip. While this is the best job in the world, this is no different than anyone else taking a trip for work. It is no vacation. Feel free to book one in your city of choice come August.

Nothing you or this scribe says will convince those who refuse to turn the dial to ABC to do so. Instead, just sit back and enjoy the drama of two top-notch teams fighting it out on one stage for an NBA Championship. Each side is seeking its first NBA Title in franchise history and returning to the Finals for the first time since 2000 and 2012, respectively.

This will be a best-of-7 set that sees a pair of high-paced teams, led by show-stopping guards in Tyrese Haliburton and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, deep benches and two of the best coaches in the sport.

If you can't get behind Gilgeous-Alexander's jaw-dropping isolations, Haliburton's dazzling dimes and the plethora of adjustments the role players will force the opposite side to implement, you simply do not like basketball.

Song of the Day: Small Town by John Mellencamp