During his All-Star Weekend press conference, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters that the League office is giving “serious attention” to changing the current playoff format.
Initially asked about the All-Star selection process, Silver went on to address how the structure of the postseason could change and what obstacles still stand in the way:
Would the @NBA consider moving away from Eastern Conference/Western Conference in the player selection process for the #NBAAllStar Game? pic.twitter.com/KaSm9BjFOh
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 18, 2018
When we get to the playoffs should we be taking either the best 16 teams, or even if we go eight from the West, eight from the East, seeding 1-16 going into the playoffs? That is something that has gotten serious attention, not just recently but over the last few years at the League office. I think, as I’ve said in the past, the obstacle is travel, and it’s not tradition, in my mind at least. It’s that, as we’ve added an extra week to the regular season, as we’ve tried to reduce the number of back-to-backs, that we are concerned about teams crisscrossing the country in the first round, for example. We are just concerned about the overall travel we would have in the top 16 teams.
Having said that, you also would like to have a format where your two best teams are ultimately going to meet in the Finals. And obviously, if it’s the top team in the East and the top team in the West, I’m not saying this is the case this year, you could have a situation where the top two teams in the league are meeting in the conference finals, or somewhere else. We’re gonna continue to look at that, and it’s still my hope that we’re gonna figure out ways. You know, maybe ultimately you have to add even more days to the season, to spread it out a little bit more to deal with the travel. Maybe air travel will get better. All things we’ll keep looking at.
What adjustments should the NBA make?
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