This NBA Final Was About the Losers

Hang Up and Listen

Slate Podcasts

News, Sports, Sports News

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs talk about the NBA Finals and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s victory over the Indiana Pacers – the comeback kings of the season. They discuss how the Pacers’ unsatisfying underdog ending and Tyrese Haliburton’s on-court injury made this one of the more bittersweet Finals of recent years. Then, the panel dissects the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to a group of investors led by the Dodgers’ owner Mark Walter, and the team's record-breaking $10 billion valuation, and what it means for the presence of big, big money in sports team ownership. Finally they discuss the Edmonton Oilers getting iced out of Games 5 and 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals by the dominant Florida Panthers. They ask why Edmonton can’t get it together, and whether they might just be getting a little long in the tooth. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel discusses another, less-positive team acquisition story: Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Phoenix Suns back in 2022. Plus, the team’s blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant in 2023, undone this week when they traded Durant away to the Houston Rockets. . NBA Finals (3:02): Thunder Vs. Pacers The Lakers Get Sold (22:15): A Record-Breaking $10 Billion Dollars Stanley Cup (41:52): What’s Up With Edmonton? (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Want more Hang Up and Listen? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page, or visit slate.com/hangupplus to get access wherever you listen. You can email us at [email protected]. Podcast production and editing by Benjamin Frisch, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It is Monday, June 23rd, 2025.
0:09.7	Welcome back to hang up and listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
0:13.5	Back with you yet again.
0:15.1	I am Alex Kirshner, a contributing writer for Slate, and I also co-host the college football
0:19.7	podcast, Split Zone Duo.
0:21.8	This week, we're talking finals.
0:23.3	The NBA Finals, won by Oklahoma City, the Stanley Cup final, won by Florida, and in
0:28.5	between, a discussion of the biggest sale of a sports team ever by valuation, that of the
0:33.8	Los Angeles Lakers at 10 billion big ones. As usual, joining me this week is
0:39.6	Lindsay Gibbs, the publisher of Power Plays, a newsletter that covers the biggest stories
0:43.9	of the moment in women's athletics. Lindsay, have you recovered yet? Oh my gosh, I have not.
0:50.9	Championship games are always exhausting. I don't care how dramatic they are or not. There's just so many emotions. And I think we're going to talk about some. I have feelings. And they are all valid. And we look forward to exploring them. And of course, we've got Ben Lindberg with us as well. Ben is a senior editor for The Ringer.
1:12.5	He co-hosts Effectively Wild, a great baseball podcast. Ben, how are you?
1:17.2	I have also gone from Game 7 elation to post-finals deflation, although I have to say a few shows
1:24.4	ago, I kind of marveled at how long these finals would last.
1:29.1	And they did last almost as long as they possibly could have.
1:32.6	And that was weird at times with the multiple off days after each NBA game, even without travel.
1:39.3	And there were definitely days when I was wondering why there wasn't a game.
1:43.0	But if I had known that the series
1:45.4	would be that good, especially the NBA series, then I would have signed up for another week or two.
1:50.2	If anything, it ended too soon. It did. And honestly, I hate to say it, but is it possible that we
1:56.3	got more than we bargained for with how long the series was with what happened to
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.