After decades of dominating the National Basketball Association (NBA), the LeBron James and Stephen Curry era has finally come to an end, the former legend declares.
According to Marca, the game which was long dominated by James, Curry, and Kevin Durant has found new stars who have dramatically shifted the competition, which many call a new era.
Oklahoma City Thunder won the Western Conference Finals after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves; both teams featured new and young faces.
After seeing the new landscape of the game, Boston Celtics legend Paul Pierce believes that the old era is ended and it is time for the new generation to shine.
Young kids ‘closed the window’ on old era
Pierce said, “This is the signal of the end of an era now. This is what happened this year: You had Jimmy Butler go to Golden State and crack the window open to where you were like, 'Oh, it might be a slight chance, the window still open."'
“You had Luka Doncic go to the Lakers and say, 'Hold on, they cracked the window back open for this era.' But these young kids were like, 'Nope. Bron, Steph, and KD, appreciate y'all. This is our moment now.' And they closed the window on the old era... This is what they're showing us with OKC, Minnesota, New York, and Indiana," he added.
The Minnesota Timberwolves had a strong playoff run as they defeated James’ Los Angeles Lakers in the First Round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs and then beat Curry’s Golden State Warriors in the Second Round.
It is worth noting that no veteran leaders qualified for the Conference Finals, and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which is the youngest team in the league, successfully qualified for the last showdown and are the favourites to win the NBA Finals.
