Should the NBA Playoffs be best 16 records, regardless of conference

[warriorfan]

I'm down for tradition but when tradition makes no sense it's time to abandon it. they should break up conference seedings and do it all together

[clipps]

So the NBA would be the only major sport in America without conferences and divisions. Sounds Awesome. How would the league figure out how many times teams face each other? Imbalances happen in sports. The Panthers won their shitty division with a losing record in the NFC South while the Chargers, Chiefs, Bills, and Texans miss the playoffs with 9-7 records.

[buddha]

Too much traveling

too much traveling? these guys are getting millions of dollars per year to play a game. make them travel to New York from Cali every other day for all I care. make them earn those paychecks.

[clipps]

I'm down for tradition but when tradition makes no sense it's time to abandon it. they should break up conference seedings and do it all together

I wouldn't abandon conferences and Divisions, but I would restructure them. Have a National Conference and an American Conference like the NFL and MLB instead of east and west.

[dunksby]

Division winners + 10 teams with the best records.

[BigTicket]

I prefer the current systems, because it builds rivalries, which makes the games more fun to watch. Also less travelling means players aren't as tired, so they can perform at their best.

Right now there is an imbalance between the East and West, but that's not always going to be the case, and I don't want longterm rules based on shortterm problems.

[kshutts1]

So the NBA would be the only major sport in America without conferences and divisions. Sounds Awesome. How would the league figure out how many times teams face each other? Imbalances happen in sports. The Panthers won their shitty division with a losing record in the NFC South while the Chargers, Chiefs, Bills, and Texans miss the playoffs with 9-7 records.

I could be wrong because I don't follow hockey or soccer or baseball, but the NBA is the only professional sports league in the US that has a lottery system, right? Every other league is done by record and tie breakers.

My point is... It's safe to say that what works for one league won't work for another.

It's time to stop with "tradition for tradition's sake" and abolish the conferences OR make the divisions and conferences more meaningful.

Two radical changes.. both may have been Simmons' before mine.
1) 16 team playoffs, no conferences. Just straight up ranked by record.
or
2) Top seeds CHOOSE their opponent. So in the first round, the 1 seed chooses their opponent. The next highest, non-chosen seed then chooses theirs. Etc until all matchups are complete. Same thing is done for the next round, as well. Obviously last two rounds, there is no choice.

Because of the way the NBA does seeding (rewards division winners), this would further help division winners. Thus making the division more important.
As for making conferences more important, in the same format.... I'm at a loss. Unless some sort of major kick-back happens, but that has so many negatives.

Basically, the best and easiest solution is to abolish conferences all together. There is no currently valid reason for keeping them. Some argue traveling? I'm sure I could find many instances of ridiculous travel in this current setup. Plus, just because the Knicks would no longer be in the East, does not mean they'd have to play the Lakers every other game, and Atlanta every other. League should still use common sense to create schedules.