The NBA Playoffs were a rather lackluster showing of competitive balance. With blowouts and sweeps galore it’s time for the NBA to shake up their playoff system, improving all facets of an increasingly popular league
While the NBA Finals matchup was one for the ages, the result was lackluster at best. The series was a quick five games, a surprise considering the dominance of the two teams over their conference competitors.
Of the 15 playoff series this past season, eight failed to reach a Game 6, including both Conference Finals and NBA Finals. This laughable playoff situation is solvable, however: the best 16 records are seeded accordingly.
Adding a new, competitive twist in the NBA Playoffs would cause an even greater surge in an increasingly popular league. TNT, ABC and ESPN all saw promising ratings, even through a weak postseason.
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Placing the best 16 records in the playoffs would give fans inciting matchups between inter-conference opponents, as well as including deserving teams in the postseason who may not have made it in the NBA’s current system.
The 2007-08 Warriors, 2013-14 Suns, and 2014-15 Thunder are all recent victims of conference-seeded playoffs. Each team won at least 45 games and more then earned their spot in the postseason, yet were left out.
Not only would this new system improve the fairness of the NBA Playoffs, but enhance regular season competition. Gone would be the days of resting stars if their teams are fighting to stay out of unfavorable playoff matchups down the road. For example, the Cavaliers (who experienced an epic slump late in the regular season) would be much less inclined to rest LeBron James or other players in this hypothetical system.
If the NBA would have this new setup in place, the Cavaliers would have had to fight down the stretch to avoid a four or five seed and a semifinals matchup with the Golden State Warriors.
The regular season would still retain the current scheduling. Rivalries would still be intact and travel schedules would be as reasonable as possible. All-Star games would still be played between the East and West, which leads to the final point in this argument. While the current situation may change in the coming years, the bulk of NBA talent resides in the West.
According to ESPN’s #NBArank, the top 13 of the 14 NBA players are now in the Western Conference. The one man in the East is ranked No. 1, LeBron James. With this ridiculous imbalance between conferences, don’t be surprised if at least one team above .500 in the West misses out on the 2017-18 postseason.
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A 16-seed playoff system has gained some steam in recent years. As instances of good teams being left out of the playoffs continue, expect the clamoring to grow even louder.