Sound Off: NBA Conference Disparity, Should It Be Fixed?

[NowAndLaterCARZ]

I think the current format works, but if i were to change it i would align it like the nfl. have an nfc and afc (nbc national basketball conferenc and abc american basketball conference). basically the major cities and states with two teams or more would split. Lakers in one and clippers in other, knicks in one nets in other, orlando in one heat in other, spurs in one rockets in other, warriors in one kings in other etc... just an idea

[maltliquor23]

While we continue to scream frustration about the western conference strength vs east weakness. Only one team will make the playoffs with a losing record (Hawks). However, Every team making the playoffs this year has a winning record in their conference with the Nets 26 and 25 being the worst. The strong west beat up on the east. It happens every year . But I have no pity for a team in a strong conference not making the playoffs. It happens on an almost annual basis that a team should make the playoffs in one conference but not the other. Or several teams would be seeded higher IF they played in the other conference. And it happens in every sport and its cyclical. When the door swings the other way will we talk about how strong the east is, or how the west teams should be supplanted in the seeding they earned in their conference?

[2KGAWDD]

you could make the argument the west has been the deeper conference for the last 20 years . I believe everything should remain the same except once you get to the playoffs seed it 1-16 no conferences and i also believe theres no need for the first round of the playoffs to be 7 games

[rtkiii]

Nothing should change. There was a time when the 49ers were 10-5 and did not make it to the playoffs back in the 90s. And there were teams in NFC conferences that were 9-7 but because they won their division the 49ers did not get the nod. This is just the way it is and it adds to the division rivalries. If you get rid of that and just make it the top so many teams the rivalries would go away or be less meaningful. I know this topic is bout basketball but NBA is horrible so I am just relating it to a sport I like.

[Eaglerock562]

I don't think there needs to be any changes made to the current playoff format. As strong as we all say the Western Conference is let's remember that since 1999 what Western Conference teams have championships, Spurs (4), Lakers (5), Mavericks (1) and then out of the Eastern Conference you have Boston (1), Detroit (1), Heat (3) and that include the Eastern Conference winning 4 out of the last 7 years. So the Western Conference might be the stronger of the two, but the last two years the NBA champions have come out of the East.

[SteelersFreak]

Definitely not in favor of it. It sucks, and its really bad this year, but the thing thats important to remember is this is an abnormally bad year. The West is stronger than its been in a while and the East is weaker than its been in a while. Teams in the East have faced a lot of injuries, the Hawks would certainly have a better record if they hadn't have gotten wrecked with injuries all year. Most years it works out just fine and there's no problems. No need to overreact.

[Jukeman]

Its not as bad as people are making it out to be...

Ok, one sub .500 team in the East made it to the playoff & one .500+ team in the West is not. Do we really need to change things because of that?

PHX arent in the post season because they are 28-24 in the West. People want to say Phx would be 3rd in the East but yet they are 20-10 in the East. For FWIW the 7th seed in the East is 30-22 in the East.. Washington the 5th seed (who PHX have a better OVR record than) are 33-19 in the East. That's 4th best in the East. Funny thing is PHX and ATL have to same respective conference record.

Bottom line is win in your conference and in your division..That's how American sports has always worked.