Look, I know folks have been crying and complaining about the lopsided strength between the Eastern and Western Conferences.
The West has been dominating the East for at least the last decade. Most of the time the West would have at least six teams with at least 50 wins — one season ALL EIGHT PLAYOFF TEAMS had at least 50 wins. Meanwhile, the East would usually be one or two 50-game winners with the rest being tomato cans.
That said, I think the whole idea of the NBA re-seeding its playoffs is just flat out stupid.
We can go all the way back to the 80s and see how one-sided the NBA’s competition can be. During that time, only four teams made multiple appearances in the NBA Finals: the Lakers, Rockets from the West; the Celtics, 76ers from the East.
I would also argue that the East was the dominant conference during the 90s when Michael Jordan and the Bulls won six championships. The East had the Bulls, my Knicks, Pacers, Hornets and Hawks. And we all knew teams in the West were usually sacrificial lambs to the winner of the East — Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets not withstanding.
And last, but not least, how many times did the Celtics and Lakers play in the Finals during the 60s? Exactly.
There’s nothing wrong with the NBA’s power structure now. If you are tired of the Warriors and the Cavs moonwalking their way out of their conferences (especially the Cavs), how about drafting better? Coaching better? Do a better job of signing free agents?
Let’s leave well enough alone. As far as I am concerned, nothing about the current playoff seedings is broken.
All is good in the NBA: it’s “FAAAAAN-tastic…
Categories: NBA
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