Many have criticized the NBA for the apparent talent imbalance between the Eastern and Western Conferences, and some have gone so far as to call for the NBA to give playoff spots to the top sixteen teams regardless of conference. Of course, one wonders what the point of even having conferences would be if such a proposal were to be enacted.
Now, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has suggested a bit of a compromise. His proposal would still let in the top eight teams from the East and West, but the qualifying teams would be seeded one through sixteen regardless of conference.
This would allow teams in the same conference to face each other in the NBA Finals. If this layout were in place this season, we would likely see the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets facing off for the title.
Personally, I don’t like the idea.
First of all, there is something special about conferences and this proposal would basically render them useless. The NBA’s East vs. West, the NFL’s AFC vs. NFC, and MLB’s AL vs. NL matchups are all rich with great history. The NBA’s conferences were founded in the mid-1940s and in-conference rivalries since then have made the product better. Think of the great Eastern Conference bouts between the Celtics, Pistons, and Bulls in the 1980’s and 1990’s or Lebron James’s Heat/Cavs vs. the Boston Celtics. Are we really willing to erase this great aspect of the league?
Secondly, this proposal doesn’t get to the heart of the problem. The issue is not the imbalance between the conferences; as I mentioned on our most recent broadcast, that issue takes care of itself over time. The issue is that the NBA title is determined by where LeBron James and Kevin Durant sign in free agency. The real solution is for the NBA to find a way to better distribute its talent across the league to better its product. For the last few years, there have been about three legitimate title contenders--the Warriors, Cavaliers, and Spurs. Allowing the best of those two to meet in The Finals doesn’t solve the actual problem, which is that there have only been three legitimate title contenders in recent years.
Adam Silver, please leave the conferences alone.
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