For nearly two decades the Western Conference has been regarded as superior to the Eastern Conference and that hasn’t changed this offseason with players like Paul George and Jimmy Butler migrating to the left side of the map.
At what point, however, should the league take action to at least restore a semblance of fairness, if not balance? An excerpt from the latest Zach Lowe feature on ESPN details a few ideas that teams have had over the course of the last few seasons to address the issue.
Suns owner Robert Sarver has suggested that the league seed playoff teams 1-16, rather than 1-8 in each conference. Mavs owner Mark Cuban even went so far as to pitch a temporary realignment plan.
While no changes appear imminent, the concerns don’t seem to be going away. A concern of Cuban’s centers around the fact that the teams in the Western Conference already occupy smaller markets and can’t afford to field anything less than competitive rosters if they want to succeed as a business.
Some Eastern Conference teams in big markets, like Brooklyn, New York and Philadelphia, on the other hand, can get away with years of sub-optimal performance knowing that the end goal, a rebuild, will be ultimately worth it.
There’s more from the NBA world:
- The revitilization of a beloved Lakers–Celtics rivalry has propelled summer league basketball to new heights. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes that Saturday’s session of the Las Vegas Summer League was sold out by noon on Friday. This marks the first time in 14 years that an entire day session of summer league basketball has sold out of tickets in advance.
- Former Spurs guard Nicolas Laprovittola has left his EuroLeague team to sign with Zenit St. Petersburg, international basketball reporter David Pick tweets.
- As the NBA offseason progresses, a succession of relevant contract deadlines will soon pass, dates that represent full or partial guarantees for players. By remaining with the Heat through today, for example, Wayne Ellington‘s 2017/18 contract will become officially guaranteed. To track all of these big days, follow along with our NBA Salary Guarantee Dates tracker.
i support 1-16 fully. travel might be tricky but theres enough off days in the playoffs to make it work
Not a Cuban hater but his reasons the western teams are better is BS.
I love the idea of 1-16. Great for fans and the NBA.
Keep it the same. Like the idea but I feel having the conferences is important
I don’t think the East and West is quite the divide like the AFC/NFC or AL/NL in baseball. 1-16 and a more round robin type schedule seems reasonable to me.
If you change it to 1-16 then the schedule needs to change which is impractical. If I’m playing the Knicks, 6ers and other bottom feeder east times for half my games and I end up at 42-40 how can you say my team deserves to be ranked above a team that has to battle the warriors, rockets, clippers, Spurs and finished 42-40.
Bottom line is you need to beat the best to make it to the finals and ultimately win and no teams are getting any free passes by any means.
Agreed, this sums it up pretty well. And then if you change up the schedule, it will likely increase the length of the season (to allow for more off/travel days so teams aren’t flying across the country to play back-to-backs or having a quick turnaround after coming from one side of the country.
Well said Canajay. No need to change the whole league bc one conference is better today…. give it a few years and things’ll balance out or even switch up. Remember when magic had a clear ride to the finals for most of the 80s while
Army and Dr J had to beat their way through not only each other but also some pretty good Milwaukee and Washington teams…
Err not Army, meant Larry, stoopid autospell
its been a few years.
The NBA has a serious problem due to this issue. Too many markets in the east have been spurned/neglected by free agents for decades. It’s gotten to the point where major market teams in the east have to tank for multiple years in order to get one or two stars on a roster. Front offices in the east who aren’t tanking merely seek the status quo. At some point, fans will wise up and find something else to do with their time.
I don’t see it that way. I think too many teams in the east simply don’t know what they are doing. Like 80% of the stupid contracts in the NBA are on the east coast. If east teams didn’t do things like give Joakim Noah 80 mil, they’d be a lot more competitive. You don’t see any teams in the west firing their GM because they were too cheap to pay a reasonable salary. You don’t see teams in the west trading away Paul George for a potato.
Players gravitate away from teams that do stupid things, and the stupidity amongst eastern NBA teams seems to be never ending.
That’s very simplistic way of looking at things. Sure, there are some examples of poorly run organizations in the east. One could just as easily site teams in the west that meet that distinction as well (Lakers, Kings, Timberwolves, Suns).
Instead of focusing on the symptoms of losing, as all teams ate susceptible to at some point, I’m looking at cause. There have been far too many instances of teams in the east imploding due to their inability to sign a significant free agent. These are teams loaded with talent who were one star player away from contending for titles (Bulls, Wizards, Raptors, Pacers).
What it all boils down to is, players prefer certain teams in tge western conference for reasons that have nothing to do with winning, or market size. If I said this was all orchestrated by the players in collusion, but I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorists (it is).
In any event, the players get way too much money (on guaranteed contracts no less) to be crying about their right to choose who they want to play with (LeBron). The lack of parity and the weakness of the eastern conference is an embarrassment to the NBA, and it needs to be addressed by the league (not the players).
Hard salary cap and relegation. Boom!
I have to agree on the hard cap. The Player’s Union would never allow it, though.
Wavier Draft? Trading with other Leagues? Other Minor Leagues?
For Altantic Division Washington,76ers,Knicks,Nets
Northeast Boston,Toronto
Centraleast Pacers,Detroit,CAVS
Southeast Magic,Heat,Bobcats,Hawks,Pelicans
Midwest Texas Teams,OKC,Memphis,Denver
Northcentral Minnesota,Bucks,Bulls
West Portland,Utah,Suns
California LA Teams,Golden State,Kings
Am I the only one that doesn’t really find this to be that big of a deal? One conference will always be better than the other, that’s how it is in any sport. So what? As a fan it doesn’t really cross my mind at all.
NBA has way bigger problems, like super teams and the playoffs becoming a joke.
Premier free agents don’t often move in the NFL due to the franchise designation option and the corresponding draft pick penalties. Plus there’s a hard cap. Imagine if OKC could franchise Durant…or the Pacers with PG. It changes things drastically.
And you’d still have scenarios where the Warriors couldn’t franchise Curry and Durant. Use a hard cap and that would really shake things up.
It’s really easy, fix the salary cap and the problem goes away. Hard cap like hockey and there is no super teams unless they play for free.