Stating the Obvious: The NBA Playoffs Severely Lack Parity

Yesterday marked four years that I've been writing on Vocal. I've written over 1600 stories, and I've written a lot of sports stories. Those who really know my writing notice that while I write about the NFL, NHL, MLB, and even the CFL, I don't really mention the NBA a lot. If you take away the NBA Finals game recaps I write, I almost never write about the NBA. There's a reason: the NBA isn't as exciting as it was when I was a kid, and that has a lot to do with the fact that there is next to no parity in the Association.

Here's the thing, though: the disparity problem has been in the NBA for decades. The NBA is deeply obsessed with superteams, dating back as far as the old Boston Celtics days. The Celtics were a superteam for a long time, and in the mid to late 80s, it was the Celtics and the "Showtime" Lakers. Then when the 80s were ending, it was the "Bad Boy" Pistons, who I always compared to that big bad faction in wrestling. When the 90s started, it was MJ and the Bulls, that was during my childhood. Two separate three-peats, but once we went down, the Lakers rose back up entering the new millennium. But it wasn't just the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers back then, it was also the San Antonio Spurs as well.

The Spurs won that 1999 championship prior to the Lakers' three-peat, but it was followed by the Spurs winning again to silence the people spouting "lockout champions" at them. The Spurs kinda became that team during the rest of the 2000s decade, but then, a certain someone decided to take his talents to South Beach. It was during the "Big 3" Heat period that I was introduced to the "superteam" term, and that what the Heat were at that time. And then LeBron went back to Cleveland, and at that same time, the Warriors were becoming strong. This led to four straight years of Warriors/Cavs Finals nearing the end of the 2010s. Right now? Golden State still has most of that team together. LeBron is a Laker and they have something, and it can be said that the Celtics are back.

While superteams are sexy in sports, they can damage leagues if there's no real competition in their playoffs. The reason why I love the NHL so much is because it's wide open; anyone can knock off anyone and go far, I've seen it way too many times. The NFL has perceived superteams, but I've seen some good upsets there. Same in MLB with the Wild Cards going far. In the NBA? If you're facing #1 in the conference in Round 1, just drink in the four games, pick up your check, and get out. Same could be said for some #7 seeds who face #2 seeds.

So what inspired me to finally write about this? This year's Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA Playoffs started on the same day. Yet entering Day 12, look at the difference. Already four eliminations from the NBA Playoffs. Only one team eliminated from the Cup Playoffs, and that was in double overtime, so we nearly didn't get that. No sweeps will take place in the first round of this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, and at least six of the eight series are guaranteed to go at least six games. The NBA already has two sweeps, and two other series go five,

Plain and simple, I think the format is why. Following the Play-In, the NBA adopts the 1 vs 8 format that a lot of NHL fans want back, and the NBA's #8 seeds are awful. Hell, the NBA's #7 seeds are awful. NHL fans always complain that their current playoff format (top three teams in each division qualify, followed by two Wild Cards regardless of division) eliminates the best teams too early, adding that the matchups between two great teams should be saved for later rounds. This is hockey. There are no guarantees in hockey. Ask members of the 2018-19 Lightning or the 2022-23 Bruins if there are guarantees in hockey.

So with that, there's only one way to fix this. The NBA needs to adopt the NHL's format. And they actually have two choices in that regard.

In my vision, the Play-In has to go. That's nothing against the Play-In, I do love it, but sacrifices have to be made. So here's my idea. Once upon a time, the NBA did have four divisions: Atlantic, Central, Midwest, and Pacific. I say go back to that, and then, have the top four teams in each division qualify. The first two rounds would be strictly divisional. It would be right out of the 1980s NHL playbook, and it worked for all 12 years that the NHL followed that format. The collage is my vision of the realigned divisions, and it is mostly similar to what the divisions were back then, though one of the differences is that I placed the Nuggets in the Pacific--back then, they were in the Midwest Division.

I also listed this year's standings under this different format. The playoff matchups would have been as follows: Celtics/Hawks and Knicks/Magic in the Atlantic, Cavs/Pistons and Pacers/Bucks in the Central, Thunder/Grizzlies and Rockets/Timberwolves in the Midwest, and Lakers/Warriors and Nuggets/Clippers in the Pacific. So we'd get three of the matchups we have now, but Cleveland would be facing a much better team than Miami. Plus Lakers/Warriors, LeBron vs Steph. That's a delicious first round matchup.

A second option sees the NBA using the same format that the NHL currently uses: top three in each division get in, and then the Wild Card format decides the other two spots. This collage shows this year's NBA standings under the ideal realignment and the format, and it's mostly the same. The Pistons and Hawks would be Wild Cards in the East, while the Warriors and Grizzlies would be Wild Cards in the West. The only two matchups that would differ from Option 1 would be in the East, as the Cavs would actually face the Hawks, while the Celtics and Pistons would go at it.

It would be nice if the NBA actually does do this. Either of the two formats would definitely be more beneficial, quality-wise, than what we're getting now. Option 1, the NHL's old divisional format, should have been done before, because college basketball's March Madness bracket is basically four regional mini-brackets combined together. That's what Option 1 would be, four 4-team division mini-brackets combined together. Option 2, the NHL's current format, has worked since the NHL adopted it in the 2013-14 season. People complain that we get the marquee matchups to early? I say, "Good." You want to start it off with a clash of the titans, or a huge "Have" vs a huge "Have Not"? The latter often ends with the "Have" winning in three, and Game Four is simply practice. You want competition. We all do.

I'm just simply making suggestions, though. We all know the NBA won't do anything to fix the disparity problem the Association has had for at least four decades now. They'll just keep promoting the superteams they have, and as the saying goes, when one fades, one or two others will take that team's place. And the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through at least 26 teams with no shot.