It is too early to judge most things, only 15 or so games into the NBA season, but one thing really sticks out as an outlier: the Western Conference is so much better than the Eastern Conference.
Looking back, actually, the West has historically been superior by miles for years. Wholistically, of course.
Currently, the standings in the West are scary good. Multiple teams have MVP-caliber stars on their teams and All-Star teammates with 10 wins already fairly early into the season.
There are some lower-tier teams as well, but there is a stark difference between playoff teams and contenders and the bottom of the barrel. Sorry, Pelicans.
But what about the East?
There are only three. Every other team is roughly in the same spot at the time I am writing this article. There are six teams with a similar record of between 8-8 and 9-6. This is around .500 and .600 on the season.
This Eastern mediocrity is a longstanding issue. Unfortunately, past season results reveal that the new ninth and tenth seeds in the extended playoffs have 36 or so wins, which is horribly bad for playoff teams to be under .500 on the season. And despite the poor showing in the regular season, these teams still manage to contest with the top seeds in the playoffs.
Some years, it’s a slaughter. Last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were the one-seed in the East, dominated the eight-seed Miami Heat, 4-0, in their series.
However, in 2023, the eight-seed Miami Heat beat the one-seed Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 in their series and went on to compete in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets, only to lose horribly.
First, it is funny to note that the Heat have been the eight seed three times in a row, especially after being the one seed in 2022.
It is also worth mentioning how the only time the East won the finals recently was when Boston won in 2024 with a considerably greater merit entering the championship matchup between them and the Dallas Mavericks.
Poor Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Both of Dallas’ star guards recorded the most minutes in every game for the Mavericks. Still, they fell very short, 4-1, against a behemoth Boston team, which found out that well-synchronized and complementary teams win championships.
Besides the point that Doncic and Irving had no help and were poorly managed, this was the fifth time in 12 years that the East had taken home the trophy. The other two teams were the Toronto Raptors, which had a miraculous run considered “lucky” due to injuries, and the Milwaukee Bucks, who were spearheaded by one of the greatest Finals performances ever, via Power Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Looking at the current standings of the East compared to their past, a few things continue to stick out.
Mainly, injuries. What happened to point guard Tyrese Halliburton last year was horrible, as it was the best shot the East had in a while to contest a Western team in the NBA Finals after the Boston Celtics’ team implosion (also heavily affected by injuries).
There is also the fact that most teams, not just those in the Eastern Conference, cannot synthesize with their star players for whatever reason. Whatever happened in Dallas regarding former General Manager Nico Harrison and the Luka Doncic trade was devastating for the Dallas fanbase.
To make matters worse for Dallas fans, the issues persist within the organization in developing young first-round pick and forward Cooper Flagg at point guard, which is laughably incompetent.
Another thing that really stings for most Eastern Conference teams is that they seem to mutually defeat one another, similarly to the Pac-12 College Football conference.
Now what does that mean?
Regarding the Pac-12, every time, in recent years before their dissolution, when a team came close to a national title, some random upset would occur without fail. An example is USC with Heisman-winning Quarterback Caleb Williams falling to the Utah Utes twice and closing the door on any national championship hopes.
The East currently feels the same, meaning no team is exceptionally dominant, so all the franchises are just grasping for any opportunity they can. This leads to inconsistent, disappointing results for fans of Eastern teams, which look projected to do well and then fall very short in the postseason.
I am looking at you, Knicks fans.
What is the problem with this? It basically means that rankings don’t matter in this chaotic conference, and that about 11 or 12 out of the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference can represent the East in the Finals this year.
Unlike the Eastern conference, acting like a widespread battle royale where rankings seemingly do not matter, as long as a team makes the postseason. The West, on the other hand, typically has a ringleader, currently the Oklahoma City Thunder, and everyone is gunning to beat them, which is possible but an uphill battle.
The Detroit Pistons do look strong this year with good bench depth, but there are holes in their armor. Furthermore, this team is very much like last year’s Cleveland Cavaliers, who felt very short even after their historic season.
My final warning for all fans of teams in the East: don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
The East’s representative for this year’s NBA Finals is just as much of a mystery as how the New Orleans Pelicans front office functions: nobody knows.