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The NBA for as long as we can remember has had the same layout, two conferences, seeded one through eight in both conferences play a best of seven to see who moves on and then in the finals the best team in the west faced the best team in the east. That how it has always been the schedule is made to accommodate that each team plays each other a certain amount of time. Changing that would take some getting used to but there have been many talks of changing that format to a new different format of seeding teams 1-16. Let’s take a look at what are the pros and cons for changing the format of the playoffs.
Pros and Cons
WENN
Pros
1. Fans would get to see best of the best: It is no secret that the western conference is the stacked conference and in the last five or six years the west has been the stronger conference. With the change in formats, we would see the two best teams in the NBA, so let’s say that they changed the format for the upcoming season there is a potential to see LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers taking on Kawhi Leonard and Paul George of the Clippers. This would end seeing the same teams in the finals and could potentially improve viewership.
2. Gives everyone a fair chance to make the playoffs. The western conference is filled with tough teams that have a .500 record and above and still will not make the playoffs. But teams that are battling for the last 3 playoffs in the west can have a top spot in the east. But with the format change, it would be so that there are no more conferences so it would be seeded based on the record and the best 16 teams would be in the playoffs.
Cons
1. Traveling. The NBA changing its playoff format could potentially add 40,000 more miles to travel. This would have teams traveling back and forth a lot more like let’s say that the Brooklyn Nets faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round that would add a good amount of travel miles. That could add to players getting injured a lot more.
2. Scheduling. The travel adds problem to the scheduling because every team has to face each other at least once during the regular season. It would also have to be that each team would have to play each other the same amount of times. Since conferences and divisions are being abolished then each team would have to face each other at least three times. This would extend the season to 87 games and the NBA is already trying to condense the amount of back to backs, increasing the season to 87 games would be problematic.
Closing Words
NBA / ABC
The NBA can toy with this idea but it would take an intensive amount of work considering their many factors to take into account. You would have to look at scheduling and travel issues. Although it would spice up the league and us fans would get to see some amazing playoff matches. Teams that would not usually make the playoffs due to their record in their respective conference can now have a chance to make the playoff. In the end, the NBA would have to wait and make sure the players agree with this change because they are the ones that will be going out there to play.
