The NBA Finals is the championship series of the NBA. The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986.

The series is played between the winners of Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals. At the conclusion of the championship round, the winners of the NBA Finals are awarded the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. (Winners from 1946 to 1977 received the Walter A. Brown Trophy) The NBA Finals has been played at the conclusion of every NBA and BAA season in history, the first being held in 1947.

Since 1985, the winner of the NBA Finals has been determined through a 2–3–2 format. The first two and the last two games of the series are played at the arena of the team who earned home court advantage by having the better record during the regular season.

During the first decade the Minneapolis Lakers had the first NBA dynasty, winning 5 championships in 6 years under Hall of Fame head coach John Kundla. The team also featured George Mikan, one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Franchises which had previously been in the National Basketball League tended to dominate, especially the Minneapolis Lakers.

Kawhi Leonard (born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player with the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Leonard attended Martin Luther King High School in his hometown Riverside, California. In 2009, as a senior, he was named Mr. Basketball California, and was ranked the #48 prospect in the nation by Rivals.com.

As a freshman at San Diego State, Leonard averaged 12.7 points per game and 9.9 rebounds along with shooting 45.5% from the field. Leonard was the 2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament MVP, first team all MWC Conference selection and led the MWC in rebounding. Leonard led the Aztecs to a 25-9 record including a 11-5 record in the MWC to make the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. San Diego State faced Tennessee in the first round and lost 62-59 as Leonard scored 12 points and added 10 rebounds.

As a sophomore, Leonard stood out for the Aztecs as he averaged 15.7 points per game along with 10.4 rebounds. He was picked to the Second Team All-America by Fox Sports, and helped lead SDSU to a 34-3 record, and a trip to the Sweet 16. Leonard could not guide the Aztecs past eventual national champion UConn. In addition to getting to the tournament, Leonard helped guide his SDSU Aztecs to back to back Mountain West Championships.

Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league. He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, as in March 1991 when he mistakenly spat on a young girl, and as in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

Kenneth (Kenny) "The Jet" Smith (born March 8, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He currently works as a TV basketball analyst, primarily for Inside the NBA on TNT.

Smith was born in Queens, New York, and attended Archbishop Molloy High School. He then played basketball at the University of North Carolina.

Smith was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick of the 1987 NBA Draft. He played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets. In his professional career, Smith scored 9,397 points and recorded 4,073 assists. He won two NBA championships with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995. In the first game of the 1995 Finals against the Orlando Magic, Smith made seven three-pointers, including a game-tying shot which sent the game into overtime. The Rockets won the game 120–118.

Smith joined Turner Sports in 1998. He has teamed with Ernie Johnson, Jr. and Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA, a winner of the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Studio Show. Smith has been described as a "straight man" to Barkley, known for his offbeat antics. He occasionally appears on NBA TV as an analyst. He also served as an analyst during the 2011 and 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments.

Timothy Theodore "Tim" Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6-foot 11-inch (2.11 m), 255-pound (116 kg)power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year. The Spurs' team captain, he is a 13 time NBA All-Star and the only player in NBA history to be selected to both All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams during each of his first 13 seasons.

Duncan started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool on his home of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He soon became a standout for St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School, and had an illustrious college career with the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, winning the Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards in his final year. Duncan graduated from college before entering the 1997 NBA Draft as the number one pick. His list of accomplishments, remarkable consistency, and leadership in the Spurs' NBA championship runs in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 have led basketball experts to consider him to be one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.