In recent history, teams with below .500 records have found a way to slide into the NBA playoff race.
Teams with better records in the other conference have gotten penalized due to their geographical location and not their overall record.
It appears as though the West is turning into a gauntlet and the talent in the East is top-heavy.
Many people around the NBA have talked about moving to a different playoff system. The alternate system would take the top 16 teams with the best records to the playoffs.
Photo Courtesy of Above the Rim
Since 2007, there have been nine teams under .500 teams in the playoffs. All nine of those teams have come from the Eastern Conference.
In the eleven years, two different times there were multiple under 41 win teams in the playoffs.
Eight of the nine teams that made the playoffs with an under .500 record had a worse record than a team who didn’t make the playoffs in the other conference.
The NBA would benefit by having a more competitive postseason and would also make regular season games more competitive.
All-Stars: Paul Milsap, Paul George and Jimmy Butler are all on the move to the Western Conference.
Many teams in the West now have multiple All-Stars and former All-Stars on their given teams. The Rockets, Warriors, Pelicans, Spurs, Clippers and Thunder all have two or more guys who have been All-Stars in the last three years. Just the Celtics, Cavaliers and Raptors have that in the Eastern Conference.
Its not just the shifting of the talent in between the two conferences. It’s also the depth in talent that’s different.
Photo Courtesy of Grantland.
At the end of the day, the best 16 teams should be able to compete for a championship.
For a team to have the 15th best record and not make the playoffs doesn’t make sense.
With the Western Conference as strong as it is, the East is going to have a tough time holding their own.
There’s a good chance Western Conference teams with good records could get snubbed come playoff time.
It’s time to do away with Conference seeding and give the best teams a chance to win an NBA Championship.
Feature Image by Chat Sports
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