The NBA is seriously reconsidering the idea of reseeding the final four playoff teams as part of its proposed schedule changes for the 2021/22 season and beyond, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The league hopes to implement multiple changes for ’21/22 and is expected to put forth a formal proposal for a vote at this April’s Board of Governors meetings.
Reseeding the four conference finalists (based on their regular season records) in the hopes that the NBA’s two best teams would have a chance to meet in the Finals had been among the proposed changes, along with an in-season tournament and a play-in tournament for the seventh and eighth seeds. However, the reseeding idea appears increasingly unlikely to be included for the final vote, per Wojnarowski.
[RELATED: NBA Sends Proposal For Tournament, Schedule Changes To Teams]
As Woj explains, the NBA’s coastal teams have opposed the reseeding concept for the most part, with those franchises – and others – expressing concerns about increased travel as a result of pitting Eastern and Western teams against one another prior to the NBA Finals. Sources tell ESPN that the league’s research has shown the proposed change could lead to a travel increase of 60% and result in one out of every four series being played across three time zones.
Besides the travel concerns, many league executives would like to maintain the East/West structure in the Conference Finals, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Reseeding the conference finalists could also be counter-productive if the NBA’s top title contenders didn’t hold the best regular season records due to injuries, load management, or other factors.
While the NBA appears to be souring on the idea of reseeding its final four teams, there’s no indication that the league won’t still move forward with its proposals for an in-season tournament and postseason play-in tournament.
Terrible idea. Silver can’t go this far out into left field and destroy a part of the games history. Would Lakers v Clippers or Celtics v Bucks really feel like an NBA finals series?
I agree with you but … I’m sure the city Los Angles would love to see the Clippers & the Lakers in the NBA Finals
Travel concerns are the reason the “division” concept was introduced into sports in the first place. Even with jet travel, traveling across multiple time zones is tiring and produces an increased likelihood of injury.
Leave the conference playoff reshuffling alone.
7 vs 10,8vs 9 in a one game, play-in game,then reseed.Should do the same for hockey.
Of all of the proposed changes, this was the one I hated the least. That’s not to say I liked it, but I just didn’t hate it as much as the rest of the ideas.
The most radical of Silver’s idea is probably the best one if some simple rules are followed. The rest is just tinkering with the status quo just to tinker, and include things rejected before.