All eyes will be on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton when the NBA Finals tip off on Thursday night. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers were lead by point guards to the championship round for the first time in nearly a decade. Before what fans hope is an all-time matchup, both young stars got a special shoutout from NBA legend Magic Johnson.

Ever since he retired from the NBA in 1996, Johnson has remained involved in the league. He still holds influence with the Los Angeles Lakers and offers his opinions on the league's players and teams. In his posts on X, Johnson heaped praise on Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton.

Even though both players have yet to reach their primes, they are the faces of teams that are way ahead of schedule when it comes to their rebuilds. According to Johnson, the 2025 Finals has a chance to leave its mark in NBA history.

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“You have the NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and in my opinion, the MVP throughout the entire Western Conference Playoffs on one side,” Johnson said about the stars in the Finals. “On the other side we have – Tyrese Haliburton, who in my opinion, was Eastern Conference MVP throughout the entire Playoffs. This will be an all-time great point guard matchup!”

Before the series has even tipped off, some people have already written the Pacers off. To them, the Thunder are an unstoppable force on their way to the franchise's first title since moving from Seattle. However, Johnson gave his thoughts, saying that he is not ready to simply hand the title over to Oklahoma City.

“The Pacers vs. OKC Series will be a lot closer than people think!” Johnson declared. “It’ll be a truly exciting series because both the Pacers and the Thunder average well over 100 points per game (ppg) ranking 2nd and 3rd for ppg in the NBA respectively while still being two of the best defensive teams in basketball.”

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has praised Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle before the Game 1. Carlisle has reciprocated, and fans are excited to see them go at it in the Finals. However, Gilgeous-Alexander and Haliburton figure to play the largest role in deciding the 2025 NBA champion.