Credit: NBC News
The Biggest "What If" Game in NBA History?
Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
by Darren Worrell
ESPN announced Sunday’s Game 7 as the most watched NBA Finals game since Game 6 in 2019. That alone represents how truly special this matchup was.
First of all, prayers go out to Tyrese Haliburton. It is never a good thing to see
a player go down with any form of injury, and especially one with the severity of
Haliburton’s torn achilles. As for the Indiana Pacers, congratulations are in order
for their captivating run that ended with the Game 7 loss on Sunday night. They fought
hard all the way until the final buzzer sounded, and should be extremely proud of
everything that they accomplished this season.
However, when thinking about the game, I stopped to wonder what could have happened
if Haliburton had not suffered the injury. Reading fellow WSOU Sports author Ryan
Nelke’s article, “Haliburton Goes Down, Thunder Rise Up to Clinch First Title in Franchise History”, his words caused me to stop and think. Nelke wrote, “While the Thunder winning
the Finals was the story of the night, many will say it came with an asterisk as Indiana’s
star point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles midway through the 1st quarter.”
He raises a strong point. Would the outcome have been different? Could Indiana have
pulled off the upset? Would the entire narrative be flipped? These are questions we
will never have answers to, but I am sure that I am not the only one asking them.
Haliburton was having a strong postseason. Despite the injury, he averaged 17.3 points
and 8.6 assists per game. Sure, those numbers may not immediately jump off the stat
sheet, but to those who watched him throughout the playoffs, his impact is clear.
He’s a true floor general, someone who can score in big moments, set up his teammates
in the right spots, and lead both vocally and by example. Even after tough losses,
he never lost confidence. He was always the guy reminding his team, “we’re still in
this” and “we'll get the next one.”
To be clear, I am not a fan of either team. I am simply a fan of great basketball.
And I am not saying that Oklahoma City did not deserve to win, because their season
illustrates that they absolutely did. But based on how Haliburton started that game,
already knocking down three three-pointers in the first quarter, and seeing how Indiana
continued to compete even without him, it is reasonable to assume that the ending
of Game 7 would have come down to the wire.
My friend Ryan McCoy summed it up best when he told me, “Darren, this is one of those
games that, when we have kids and grandkids, we’ll just shake our heads and say, ‘You
had to be there.’” With all of the uncertainties regarding what could have happened
if Haliburton did not tear his achilles, one thing will remain certain: Game 7 of
the 2025 Finals will go down as one of the biggest "what if’s" in the history of the
NBA.
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