The WNBA has been seeding teams in the playoffs without regard to conference for several seasons.
Commissioner Adam Silver has been driving this agenda of change -- especially the in-season tournament cup modeled after European soccer -- for years.
Well, damn, if the WNBA and Soccer are doing it, then I'm in! Assuming the idea is first approved by China.
I don't know if I actually care about changing the playoffs, even that dramatically, just thought that was a funny way to present the point and presumably bolster the argument with American fans, especially certain demographics that I don't think take much stock in what the WNBA or Soccer are doing. But I feel like that's the way the NBA has gone for years. What the average American fan might want usually seems like the last on their list of considerations.
The NBA is selling the idea of lucrative television and sponsorship revenue that would drive long-term growth and combat stagnation in a rapidly splintering consumer environment.
Why is anything with the NBA stagnating when they've done nothing but cater their ideal audience with more entertainment value and more offense and more of everything flashy they think fans want? It's almost like their short-term changes are having long-term implications, and maybe the problem isn't the playoff structure, but the direction of the actual game on the court.
I know I'm just getting old and salty and am no longer the type of fan they care about, though. I mean, I'm a dummy and actually think traveling should be called and good defense is entertaining. So obviously they don't care that I'm sick of this "agenda of change" that proposes major changes as the actual game gets less interesting to watch with every team having 3 super all-star greatest players ever superstar legends based on modern offensive stats compared to the archaic days of even the 90s.
Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter are both top 20 all time points scorers. Top 20 scoring... both are absolute legends, right? All time greats!
Like all MMOs suffering from MUDflation, all sports suffer from stat inflation. But the NBA stat inflation (NBflAtion?) has turned me off the most from enjoying the actual basic, underlying quality of the game. Baseball is boring for other reasons, and the NFL is absurd with needing to hug instead of tackle, but the NBA is like watching NBA Jam and long term it just isn't as interesting.
Again, I recognize I'm not the fan they care about any longer, but they also seem concerned they aren't retaining fans, or at least growing like they want. But are these playoff changes really going to bring back fans they've lost, or is anyone going to start watching because of these changes? My guess is it will just push away more people like me who at least tune in for the playoffs, which are sometimes good since everyone acknowledges teams start playing defense (still don't call the travels, though!), but who are dubious of these constant, massive, flashy changes Silver keeps pushing like the game needed to be fundamentally changed for anyone to enjoy it. The NBA was perhaps the least inherently flawed of the major sports, but, nah, needs constant, forced changes I guess.
