Author: Jack Gordon
It is time to stop declaring that “the East is finally as good as the West” in the NBA.
It’s not, and it never has been in my lifetime.
The West, for decades, has been just better than the East in a myriad of ways. There is virtually no disputing this - go back every year, and the level of all-star talent and the number of truly competitive teams is completely unbalanced. For anyone that follows the NBA, think no further than LeBron James and the narratives that followed him for a decade. James made nine Finals appearances in the Eastern Conference, including eight straight with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was the King in the East - he was so dominant that for as long as he remained in the Conference, it was nearly a guarantee that his team would at least make the Finals. And it wasn’t just that he’s an all-time great player, but he was set up for success - he had almost no resistance. Who were his big rivals in the East after beating Boston in 2011 and 2012? The Mike Budenholzer Hawks? The Roy Hibbert Pacers?
When he signed with the Lakers in 2019, the narrative became that it would be harder for him to do what he had done; an obvious sign of acknowledgement from everyone in the media that the West was far more competitive than the East.
Some things just are the way they are. The truth is that the Western Conference has more desirable markets, including three teams in California (No, Sacramento doesn’t count). The big potential draw in the East other than Miami - New York, New York - hasn’t been a draw in over twenty years until KD showed up (and he didn’t even show up to New York City; he showed up to Brooklyn). And let’s be honest, if a player can make $40 million and do it in warm weather, it’s tough to turn down.
But for the NBA, this reality kind of sucks. What the league wants, as well as the fans, is for equal parody across the league. It would be awesome to be able to have conversations about teams no matter where they are. It would be awesome to be arguing about who might make it in the West, and then look over to the East and see a bunch of teams that might have equally compelling playoff matchups in the first and second rounds.
So every year for the past few years, people have been trying to talk themselves into the idea that the East has finally caught up with the West. People in the media are responsible for creating hype and interest around the season, and say this to trick people into watching. They want this to be true, and they point to the top-end talent in the East and argue that they match up as well, if not better, than the best in the West.
And every year, we quickly realize it not to be true. Because sure, in any given year the top three or four teams in the East might look really good. But that’s not the only thing that matters, and people know it. When we talk about the Western Conference being better than the East, a lot of times it has to do with not only the really great teams, but the teams in the middle class and even the teams just outside the playoffs. Almost every year, these teams in the West are solid, if not really good at least competent teams that can win on any given night. But in the East, we typically see a massive dropoff after the top teams, so much so that it’s impossible not to argue that the record of the top teams in the East are being inflated because they get to play so many horrible teams.
At the beginning of this season, we were hearing some of these same things. With the reigning champs in Milwaukee, a scary-looking Nets team, a beefed-up Miami team and a chaotic but lurking Sixers team, people early on were convinced that the East might be better than the West.
And then, the actual season played out, and once again this take became harder to support. As of the all-star break, a good but fairly old Miami team is the one seed in the East with a record of 38-21. The top three seeds in the West - Phoenix, Golden State and Memphis - all have better records. The Chicago Bulls, who have had horrible injury luck throughout the year, are still somehow hovering around the one seed and may even get it. The Sixers and Nets, who were supposed to be the best teams in the East, had major stress with their stars, which led to them trading for each others’ problems. The Nets have spiraled to the play-in game with Durant out and with Kyrie playing only road games, and who knows what will happen with Ben Simmons once we get to the playoffs. Embiid over in Philly has been dominant, but once again, who knows what Harden will look like, whether or not the two will mesh together, and if losing Seth Curry is a bigger deal than people realize.
The Cavs have come out of nowhere but does anyone actually think they’re a threat? Does anyone have any idea what will happen in this conference? Does anyone have actual confidence in any team other than the Milwaukee Bucks? Who is to say that the Celtics can’t make a run to the Conference Finals at this point if nobody else can figure anything out?
Here are probably the worst teams currently in play-in contention in the East: Atlanta, Charlotte, Toronto, Boston, Cleveland (sorry Cleveland I love Garland and Allen).
Here are probably the worst teams currently in play-in contention in the West: Portland, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Minnesota… Utah? Dallas? Denver?
The point is, those mid-tier teams in the West are just better. The Warriors and Suns are really steady, while the top teams in the East are all floundering around. Yes, there are good teams and dramatic storylines in the East, but that’s not all that matters.
Ultimately, this is not an argument about which Conference will win the NBA Championship. It’s about the competition before the Finals and how difficult it is to get there. Every year, the West has been better than the East. Maybe this will change one day, maybe it will change next year. But until then, stop saying that the East has caught up to the West - because the East sucks, just like every other year.
SPORTS ARE OUR UNIVERSE
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