Devin Booker and the Suns will take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the 2021 NBA Finals.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns — forever tied together after Milwaukee won a 1969 coin flip after the teams’ first seasons for Lew Alcindor — are squaring off in the 2021 NBA Finals.

Championship glory — at long last — awaits the Phoenix Suns or the Milwaukee Bucks. Since joining the NBA together in 1968, they have combined to win one championship — and that title came 50 years ago. The Suns have never won an NBA championship. This is their first NBA Finals appearance in 28 years (1993) and their third overall (they also made it in 1976). The Bucks won their only NBA championship 50 years ago (1971), in the franchise’s third season. This is their first NBA Finals appearance in 47 years (1974) and their third overall.

As the opening game awaits (9 p.m. ET on June 6, ABC), here are some key storylines and stats to know for the series.

Storylines to know for The Finals

• New on the scene: These Finals are filled with newcomers as the only player on either team with NBA Finals experience is the Suns’ Jae Crowder — who made it last season with the Miami Heat. This marks the fewest past participants in an NBA Finals since 1977. In addition, Phoenix’s Monty Williams and Milwaukee’s Mike Budenholzer are serving as coaches in The Finals for the first time.
• Started from the bottom: The Suns suddenly and improbably have the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in their sights. They had the worst record in the NBA three seasons ago, the worst record in the Western Conference two seasons ago and no playoff appearances in the previous 10 seasons.
• Living the dream: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s extraordinary rise from playing in the second division in Greece as a Draft prospect to developing into a two-time Kia MVP is the stuff of legend. If he is able to play in the NBA Finals and lead the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years — on the heels of heartbreaking playoff losses the previous two seasons as the top overall seed — it would put the exclamation point on his journey to greatness.
• Paul’s quest: Suns guard Chris Paul has reached the NBA Finals for the first time, at age 36 in his 16th season. Winning an NBA championship would be a career capstone for one of the best point guards in league history. An All-Star selection in each of the last two seasons, the undersized Paul remains a marvel at an age when few players are even active, let alone playing at an elite level.
• Homegrown hopes: Both teams have set the foundation for success through the NBA Draft and player development. Phoenix drafted two-time All-Star Devin Booker in 2015 and landed starters Deandre Ayton (2018) and Mikal Bridges (2018) and top reserve Cam Johnson (2019) in subsequent drafts. After that group led Phoenix to an 8-0 record during the 2019-20 season restart, veteran leaders Chris Paul and Jae Crowder were added to help the Suns take the next step. Milwaukee used a one-month span in the summer of 2013 to draft Antetokounmpo and trade for two-time All-Star Khris Middleton (who had just completed his rookie season with the Detroit Pistons). The two have played eight seasons together.
• Dazzling debuts: Booker, 24, and Ayton, 22, have been sensational in their playoff debuts. Booker’s perseverance through “the bottom of the bottom” — his description of multiple seasons in last place — has made this playoff run that much sweeter. Ayton, highly scrutinized as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, has blossomed into an impact player on both ends of the court.
• Khash money: Like Antetokounmpo, Middleton — known as “Khash Money” amongst Bucks fans — has taken an unlikely path to NBA stardom. Second-round draft pick. NBA G League experience. Traded after his rookie season. And yet, he has developed into an NBA All-Star, a U.S. Olympian and a clutch performer who made play after play in the biggest moments of the Bucks’ run to The Finals.

Roster notes: Phoenix Suns

• Chris Paul: 11-time All-Star is a consummate team leader and shrewd playmaker. Ranks fifth in NBA history in both assists and steals. President of the National Basketball Players Association. Launched the Social Change Fund with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade last year. Co-winner of the 2019-20 end-of-season NBA Cares Community Assist Award. Committed to a plant-based diet in 2019.
• Devin Booker: Two-time All-Star is a smooth scorer who once had 70 points in a game. Chris Paul calls him “the oldest 24-year-old I’ve ever met.” Has won multiple NBA Cares Community Assist awards for supporting children and families in Phoenix. Special Olympics global ambassador. Defeated Deandre Ayton in the final of last year’s NBA 2K Players Tournament. Father, Melvin, played in the NBA.
• Deandre Ayton: Increasingly dominant big man. Former Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camper. Second player from the Bahamas to make the NBA Finals (Mychal Thompson in 1987, 1988 and 1991). Ayton and Thompson are the only Bahamian players selected first overall in the NBA Draft. Turns 23 on July 23, the day after a potential Finals Game 7.
• Mikal Bridges: Terrific young defender and three-point shooter. Two-time national champion at Villanova. Raised by his mother, Tyneeha Lenet Rivers, a former HR VP with the Philadelphia 76ers. Drafted by the 76ers, his hometown team, while Tyneeha worked there before rights traded to the Suns.
• Jae Crowder: In NBA Finals for second straight year. Eighth consecutive seasons in the playoffs. Second-round draft pick has forged stellar career as feisty defender and solid perimeter shooter. Starred in college at Marquette (located in Milwaukee). Has seven siblings. Father, Corey, played in the NBA.
• Cameron Payne: Signed with Phoenix for last year’s restart after playing in China and the NBA G League during the 2019-20 season. Strong play in the bubble continued this season, including two big games in the Western Conference Finals while starting in place of Chris Paul.
• Cam Johnson: Very good three-point shooter. Draft Lottery pick after playing five seasons in college (one cut short by injury). Graduated from Pittsburgh (where his father, Gilbert, played basketball) in three years before transferring to North Carolina (where one of his brothers, Puff, now plays basketball).
• Dario Šarić: Former BWB camper is a stalwart on the Croatian National Team. Began his pro career in Croatia at age 15 in 2009.
• Abdel Nader: Former NBA G League Rookie of the Year poised to become the second player from Egypt to appear in NBA Finals (Alaa Abdelnaby with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1992).
• Coach Monty Williams: Widely respected and beloved in the NBA family. Won the inaugural Sager Strong Award in 2017 for exemplifying courage, faith, compassion and grace in the wake of losing his wife in a car accident. As a player, overcame a heart condition to have a successful NBA career.
• GM Manager James Jones: 2020-21 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year in his second season as GM. Played 14 NBA seasons, including two with the Suns. Sharpshooter made the NBA Finals in each of his final seven seasons. Won three NBA championships. Nicknamed “Champ” and described by LeBron James as the greatest teammate he has ever had.

Roster notes: Milwaukee Bucks

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: One of 12 players to win back-to-back NBA MVP awards. In 2019-20, became the third player to be named MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season (Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon). Raised by Nigerian parents in Greece, where he sold goods on the streets for years to help make ends meet. One of his four brothers, Thanasis, is his Bucks teammate.
• Khris Middleton: Former second-round draft pick became the first player to play in the NBA G League and go on to be named an NBA All-Star. Superb shooter with a knack for delivering in big moments. Will play for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics after the NBA Finals. NBA Cares Community Assist Award winner for his “12 Days of Khrismas” initiative.
• Jrue Holiday: Complete player and a pro’s pro. Made the 2020-21 NBA All-Defensive First Team. Won the 2020-21 NBA Sportsmanship Award and the 2019-20 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. One-time All-Star. Will play for Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics after the NBA Finals. Wife, Lauren, has two Olympic gold medals with U.S. Soccer. The two launched a social justice fund last year.
• Brook Lopez: Former All-Star transformed from post-up player into three-point shooter mid-career after struggling with foot injuries. Excellent defender. Avid fan of Disney (he built a Disney-themed house), Star Wars and comic books — loves shared by his twin brother, fellow NBA player Robin.
• P.J. Tucker: Ultimate grinder played five seasons overseas early in his career. Relentless defender takes on all comers despite being undersized. Corner three-point specialist. Known for his extensive sneaker collection and distinctive fashion statements. Has teamed up with Dolce & Gabbana on a new sneaker.
• Pat Connaughton: Energetic reserve has one of the highest vertical jumps in the NBA. Was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles as a highly touted right-handed pitcher in 2014. Played minor league baseball during the summer before his senior year at Notre Dame.
• Bobby Portis: Under-the-radar free-agent signing turned into one of the NBA’s top reserves this season. Fan favorite for his hard-nosed, expressive style. As a 6-foot-10 big man, ranked third in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage in 2020-21.
• Bryn Forbes: Undrafted guard ranked fourth in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage this season — one spot behind Bobby Portis.
• Coach Mike Budenholzer: Two-time NBA Coach of the Year. Won four NBA championships as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs. Grew up a Suns fan in Holbrook, Arizona, a three-hour drive from Phoenix. His father, Vince, was a renowned high school basketball coach in the area. Played professional basketball in Denmark.
• GM Jon Horst: Became the team’s GM at age 34 in 2017. NBA Basketball Executive of the Year in 2018-19, his second season as GM. Got his NBA start as an intern with the Detroit Pistons. Formerly worked FedEx night shifts and as a trailer park superintendent.

Notable Suns-Bucks connections

Back in 2014, P.J. Tucker (left) was a valuable defender for the Suns and Giannis Antetokounmpo was a young NBA player.

• Phoenix and Milwaukee both joined the NBA as expansion franchises in 1968, raising the number of teams to 14. The league has more than doubled in size since then, to 30 teams.
• In 1969, Phoenix and Milwaukee participated in a coin flip to determine which team would receive the No. 1 overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft. The Bucks won the coin flip and used the top pick to select Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who led them to their only NBA championship two years later. The Suns picked Neal Walk, who played five seasons for Phoenix and
• The Suns and Bucks have played each other once before in the NBA Playoffs. They were both in the Western Conference when Milwaukee defeated Phoenix 2-0 in a first-round series in 1978.
• Milwaukee’s P.J. Tucker played five seasons with the Suns from 2012-17. It was in Phoenix where Tucker established himself as an NBA player after playing five seasons overseas.
• Phoenix’s Torrey Craig began this season with Milwaukee, which traded him to the Suns in March.
• Phoenix’s Mikal Bridges and Milwaukee’s Donte DiVincenzo were teammates at Villanova, where they won two national championships together. (DiVincenzo will not play in the NBA Finals due to injury.)
• Coaches Monty Williams of Phoenix and Mike Budenholzer of Milwaukee both count San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich as a mentor.
• Williams played for the Popovich-coached Spurs, served as a coaching intern under him and later worked in San Antonio’s front office alongside him.
• Budenholzer spent 17 seasons as a Spurs assistant coach under Popovich, helping San Antonio win four NBA championships.
• Williams was a coaching intern and Budenholzer was an assistant coach in the 2004-05 season when the Spurs won the NBA championship.

Key stats & other stuff to know

• Chris Paul is playing in his 16th season and if he were to win a title in these Finals, he would tie two other players — Hall of Famer Gary Payton and Philadelphia 76ers center Dwight Howard — for the longest wait before winning a title.

Additionally, once Paul plays in his first Finals game, he will stop climbing one list in NBA history: most career playoff games played without a Finals appearance.

• The two teams have combined for six games of NBA Finals experience (all by Jae Crowder). Excluding the first NBA Finals, this is the second-fewest combined games of Finals experience. The 1977 championship series between the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers had a combined zero games of NBA Finals experience (though some players had previously appeared in the ABA Finals).
• Paul enters the NBA Finals ranked 11^th on the all-time playoff assists list. He has a chance to climb as high as seventh during this series, which would mean passing Kobe Bryant (10^th), Scottie Pippen (ninth), Steve Nash (eighth) and Larry Bird (seventh).
• Devin Booker has been a man on a mission in the playoffs for the Suns and has already delivered several epic scoring performances. In doing so, he has amassed one of the most impressive single playoffs scoring runs in Phoenix history.

• Booker leads the Suns in playoff scoring with 27.0 ppg, marking the first time since 1977 that a team has reached The Finals with its leading scorer making his first playoff appearance. In that 1977 season, Julius Erving (of the Philadelphia 76ers) and Maurice Lucas (of the Portland Trail Blazers) did the honors, but both had ABA playoff experience.

• Phoenix can become the third team in more than 40 years to win the NBA championship after missing the playoffs the previous season, joining the 2007-08 Boston Celtics and the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers.
• The Bucks are the first team to reach the NBA Finals without a player with previous Finals experience since the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors (who defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Finals that year).
• The Suns can become the 20^th active franchise and the 21^st franchise overall to win an NBA championship. (The defunct Baltimore Bullets won one NBA championship, in the 1947-48 season).
• In an era of offense that emphasizes three-pointers and shots at the rim, it’s notable that this series features three mid-range masters. On the list of most mid-range shots made during the 2020-21 regular season, Chris Paul ranked first, Devin Booker ranked fourth and Khris Middleton ranked ninth.
• The Bucks and Suns rank first and second in defensive rating, respectively, in the 2021 NBA Playoffs.