The West is far superior to the East this year. That in no way guarantees that this year’s champions will come from that conference.
The East only has two true championship contenders right now, the Celtics and Pistons. The Magic and Cavs can be mentioned in Eastern conference finals conversations, and it’s certainly possible either of those teams could reach the league Finals, but neither is presumed to be on a championship level.
So what if the Celtics, Pistons or someone else does beat the Spurs, Suns, Mavericks, Rockets, Jazz, Hornets or Lakers in the finals? Should it count?
Of course, it does have to count, but to be fair, perhaps whichever team wins the Western conference finals should be crowned this year’s champion, and whoever comes out of the East gets a handshake, a cookie, and one of those gold stars given to schoolchildren when they tie their shoes correctly.
