For the past three years, it was no doubt that the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors would go head-to-head in the NBA Championship. The Warriors would sweep every opponent in sight on the western side, and the Cavaliers would defeat their eastern foes to climb their way to the top…just like a broken record. This foreseen outcome has taken some of the excitement and even competition out of the NBA playoffs as all the fans predicted the fairytale ending.

This 2017-2018 season, many trades amongst different organizations in the NBA have taken place trying to create the best formula to be tough contender to compete in the playoffs. In the back of every team’s mind, was a strong team to take down the Golden State Warriors.

There has been many discussion from NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, that there should be a change the NBA playoff seeding system for the top 16 teams regardless of the conference.. Usually, the league has always had the Eastern and Western Conferences compete separately, and the winners would meet in the Finals. It is believed that seeding by record regardless of the conference would result in a fairer, fresher, and more competitive playoff.

“You also would like to have a format where your two best teams are ultimately going to meet in the Finals,” said Adam Siler. “You could have a situation where the top two teams in the league are meeting in the conference finals or somewhere else. So we’re going to continue to look at that. It’s still my hope that we’re going to figure out ways.”

This new format could potentially result in a West vs. East team competition in many brackets, which has never taken place before. Many people think this is a great idea; however, it would be no surprise that eastern teams will not agree with the change. The competition is unmatched in the West and could ultimately destroy chances of eastern teams securing a seat and advancing in the playoffs.

Another main concern is the strenuous traveling players would have to undergo to compete in different conferences. Back-and-forth traveling could cause earlier fatigue and health issues down the line.  

Players, such as Lebron James have already voiced their opinions about the possible change in the format, and he is not to pleased with the thought. James enjoyed the change of the NBA All-Star Game; however he strongly believes that the NBA Playoffs is more serious and should be left alone.

“It’s cool to mess around with the All-Star Game, we proved you can do that,” said James. “But let’s not get too crazy about the playoffs.”

Discussions of the format change are still being considered.

(Photo by: VCG/VCG)