![]() In 2000, the 8th seed for the East was the Indiana Pacers with a 41-41 record. Shouldn’t NBA fans want the best product on the floor even if it means ten teams from the West make it and only 6 from the East do? Oftentimes an Eastern Conference team will make the playoffs with a record worse than several Western Conference teams just because of conference alignment. The Western Conference usually outperforms the Eastern Conference in the regular season. As multi-millionaires who travel on luxury private jets, usually with all of the treatments and dietary guidelines met during road trips, is travel really wearing out these guys? Sure, traveling anywhere is going to make you tired, but as much as these athletes get pampered, and paid mightily in the process, is travel really an issue anymore?Īs for the playoff seeding argument, many are wondering if it matters that each conference is represented evenly come postseason time. You may also point to the travel aspect which should help players during a long season right? If you were to answer quickly, you would probably say: yeah, it is a good way to categorize the teams and helps with playoff seeding. This leads to a somewhat controversial question. Generally, the best NBA team in each division does make the playoffs, but no one cares about winning divisions at all. It isn’t like the NFL where the winners of each division get playoff bids. I am a diehard NBA fan but the divisions have essentially no bearing on outcomes at the end of the year. The funny thing about the divisions is that I actually had to look up their names for this piece. As you can see, each conference consists of 15 teams each. Below is an image of the teams broken down by conference. ![]() The most obvious difference is that each conference consists of different teams. In fact, NBA basketball is one of the most watched sports across the world.īoth conferences have differences and similarities. The NBA now consists of 30 teams and is booming with popularity. The NBA almost suffered the same fate until Magic, Bird, and the stars of the ‘80s saved the league. The ABA had been an upstart league that competed with the NBA for a decade until money problems and low popularity of the sport put them under. The league grew again in 1976 with the NBA/ABA merger. I could only imagine a six-seven guy trying to squeeze into a normal seat for hours after playing an NBA game.īy then, the league consisted of 17 teams with more to follow a few years later. I am six feet tall and find airplane travel difficult. The average NBA salary in 1970 was $35,00, which wasn’t terrible, but also isn’t the money guys are making today. In 1970, the decision was made to split the league into an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. ![]() With the addition of the Portland Trailblazers a couple of years later, the idea of splitting the league into two conferences made perfect sense. ![]() The league was on the brink of realignment and needed to do something to help reduce the travel load of each team. ![]() After the Bulls came the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets), Seattle Supersonics, and Phoenix Suns, all teams located in the far western part of the country. Beginning in 1966, starting with the Chicago Bulls, the league began adding teams rapidly in what is known as the Expansion Era. Back then, the entire league was essentially the Eastern Conference. In 1949, the league consisted of 17 teams all located east of Missouri except for the Denver Nuggets. Except it was nowhere near how we know it today. On August 3rd, 1949, there was a merger between the NBL and BAA basketball leagues to form the National Basketball Association (NBA) as we know it today. The league wasn’t broken up into an Eastern and Western Conference until the 1970 season. ![]()
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