Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles injury is devastating beyond the NBA Finals

Congratulations to the 2025 NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. They're a deserving champion. Don't let anyone tell you different.

It's easy to understand why some people might feel otherwise. The way Tyrese Haliburton went down after opening the game on complete fire robbed us of the Game 7 we thought we were getting. With three 3-pointers in the first seven minutes, Haliburton was on the verge of something special. Then, we got a swift reminder why a calf injury is nothing to play with.

This was hard to watch. And Haliburton's devastated father confirmed what we were all thinking, telling ESPN's Lisa Salters it was an Achilles injury. That's not how the Oklahoma City Thunder wanted to win, and it's definitely not how the Indiana Pacers wanted to go down.

NOT LIKE THIS: LeBron had a 1-word NSFW reaction to Haliburton's injury

Regardless, the Thunder were the best team all season. We shouldn't discredit their accomplishment -- just like we shouldn't discredit Indiana's deep postseason runs of the last two years on the heels of major injuries to their opponents. This stuff happens. The Pacers still had to win those games, just like OKC had to finish yesterday.

What this becomes, instead, is one of the biggest what-ifs in NBA history, especially if the Thunder go on to become the dynasty many of us think they have the potential to become. Because for all the talk of how OKC is built to be great for a long time, the Pacers came so incredibly close to delaying that timeline. Which says a lot about what the Pacers had the potential to become.

That's part of why Haliburton's injury is so devastating. Not only did it take away Indiana's best chance to compete in Game 7, thus threatening to diminish the credit OKC deserves for winning a title, it also potentially hurts Indiana's chances to return to this stage next year. And let's be clear, after making two straight conference finals appearances and pushing the best team in the NBA to a Game 7 in the finals, the Pacers were on track for a special run of their own.

Now, they're left wondering what could have been, and whether they'll even have their All-NBA point guard next season. That sucks beyond measure.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is elite

By winning the NBA Finals MVP award, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just accomplished something only three other players in NBA history have ever done: win the scoring title, regular-season MVP and finals MVP in the same season.

And you might have heard of these three players. Their names are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. All Hall of Famers.

SGA just joined that rarefied air. If it wasn't clear how special the 26-year-old was before, it should be now.

Kevin Durant is a Rocket -- and the Rockets are contenders

Kevin Durant' fingerprints were all over these NBA Finals, and it's not just because he was once the best player in the history of the team that eventually claimed the championship. Nor was it because Durant's torn Achilles in the 2019 finals showed us the perils of playing through a calf injury as Haliburton was attempting to do.

Though those things certainly were a factor, the biggest reason we couldn't ignore Durant during these finals is because of his trade chatter that just wouldn't end -- until Sunday. Hours before Game 7 was set to tip, Durant was finally moved from the Phoenix Suns to the Houston Rockets, ESPN's Shams Charania reported. Here's the moment Durant found out about the trade himself.

STARTING FIVE: Rockets' projected lineup with Durant

And with that blockbuster deal, the Rockets are now viewed as the biggest threat to... you guessed it, Durant's old team, and the new champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While Indiana's 2026 title odds at DraftKings took a tumble from third-best at +950 to +3500 following Tyrese Haliburton's injury, Houston's odds shot up to second-best following the team's move for Durant.

LSU won a title too

It was a championship kind of day on Sunday, as the LSU Tigers also won a title, taking home the Men's College World Series with a 5-3 win over Coastal Carolina.

It's the eighth national championship in the program's history and the second in the last three years, though the Game 2 win didn't come without a little drama. Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall was tossed in the first inning.

IT'S A PARADE: See photos from the Florida Panthers' celebration

Quick hits: What about Jalen Green? ... Achilles theories ... and more

• One of the pieces Phoenix got back in the KD trade was Jalen Green, which makes for a weird fit. But the Suns apparently plan to keep him, Bryan Kalbrosky wrote.
• The Thunder won the championship, and it's a good thing they did. Videos of their championship buses before the game had Rick Carlisle fired up. This really could have backfired.
• If Haliburton has a torn Achilles, he'd be the third player this postseason (all of them oddly wearing No. 0) and eighth overall this season. Why is this happening? Here's Charles Curtis with four theories about why players are going down.
• Bam Adebayo didn't have to clown A'ja Wilson's outfit like this.

That's all for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more.

This was For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here.