The divisional finals have blown a storm of youth! Four rising stars are ready to take over the torch from Janduku

Rowe said the NBA

2024-05-21 07:02Posted in Fujian Sports Creators

This article was compiled from: Associated Press

作者:Tim Reynolds

原标题：Young stars take center stage in quest for 2024 NBA championship

James will celebrate his 40th birthday in December. Curry will be 36 years old when training camp starts the new season, and Durant will be 36 years old.

They have been the stars of the playoffs for years, the players who perform the best in the most important moments. But this year's situation is not the case. The waves are no longer waiting. A group of 20-something-old stars leading their team to the championship, and in a month, one of them will be at the top of the league.

The Celtics, Mavericks, Pacers or Timberwolves, no matter which team wins the championship, the best players on their team are only in their 20s. Tatum is 26, Doncic is 25, Haliburton is 24 and Edwards is 22. James, Curry, and Durant are still considered great stars, but the NBA torch seems destined to be passed on to the next generation of players.

"They're fearless," Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said of these young stars, "and they're no longer looking up to these old superstars." They want to ruin our record, they want to kill us every time they play. That's the first thing I noticed about Luka [Doncic], he's not afraid to play against the best players in the world. He walked on the pitch like he was the best player in the world. I guess that's the confidence of a champion. That's where it all started. ”

Of the 21 regular starters used in the playoffs in the current Final Four, only six are over 30 years old: the Celtics have 37-year-old Horford and 33-year-old Holiday and the Mavericks have 32-year-old Irving. The Timberwolves have 36-year-old Conley and 31-year-old Gobert, and the Pacers have 30-year-old Siakam.

"Thank you for saying I'm old," Siakam said to Haliburton yesterday, after Haliburton mentioned that Siakam won a championship when he played for the Raptors. To be fair, in these playoffs, a 30-year-old might really be considered a veteran.

"It's going to get a lot crazier," Siakam said of this time of year. "But I think as long as we're together, we've got a great group of people...... I think we can count on each other. They can rely on me to gain experience, and I can rely on them to continue learning how to play with them. We just need to play and believe that it is possible. ”

At the moment, in terms of experience alone, it is certainly in the best interest of the Celtics.

The Celtics have five players (Brown, Tatum, Horford, Holiday and White) scoring more than 200 career points in the Division Finals and Finals. The other three teams in the playoff Final Four have only two such players in total (Irving and Siakam).

"It feels like it's been a long time to get back to this position, to get back to the finals or the divisional finals," Irving said, "but it's a long way back."

Irving was indeed a rare figure in the Final Four: he had a championship ring, which he got when the Cavaliers won the championship in 2016. There are very few players on the playoff roster who have won a championship, Siakam won a championship for the Raptors in 2019, Markieff Morris of the Mavericks won a championship for the Lakers in 2020, and Holiday won a championship for the Bucks in 2021.

Now the pressure of the game will be increasing. That number will rise again when the NBA Finals begin on June 7. Which young stars are ready to take the final and biggest step? We'll see.

Judging by the current odds to win the championship, the Celtics are far ahead, with the Timberwolves in second, followed by the Mavericks and Pacers. As the coach of the least favored team, Carlisle quipped: "We are uninvited guests. ”

He's right. Young people from the Pacers and young people from the Celtics, Mavericks and Timberwolves – ruining the supergiant partying that fans are used to. In fact, they have taken over the season. One of these teams will be the newly crowned NBA champions, and the NBA will see six different teams win the championship over the past six years, tying the record for the longest in league history.

The NBA's older superstars are not out of the way of history, but the new generation of stars is ready for their own golden age.

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