NBA "Extreme Makeover"

During All-Star weekend in New Orleans, there was some chatter, notably from TNT’s Reggie Miller, about the NBA seeding its teams 1-16. In a season where a trade between the 23-28 Sacramento Kings and the 21-28 Atlanta Hawks actually has playoff relevance for the team with a worse record, there couldn’t be a better time for revamping the NBA playoff system. Agreeing with Reggie Miller actually frightens me, but I must find a way to move forward. After mulling over a few options, and because David Stern will never actually read this, I will attempt to create a “BASKETBALL UTOPIA.”

The first order of business would be to eliminate the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies. Minnesota, led by Kevin McHale, passed a suitcase under the table to pay Joe Smith, that’s reason enough for me. Memphis, having already failed in Vancouver continues to be miserable, good riddance! Let’s take the players from these two teams and toss them into the 2008 draft pool. There will certainly be an outcry when Miami, adding Al Jefferson to a Dwayne Wade/Shawn Marion core, wins its second NBA Championship. This leaves 28 teams and arguably the most competitive basketball in the history of the game. The influx of global talent and the surprising maturity level of the young players is the primary reason. The NBA is back to playing the kind of basketball it did in the glory days. Yes Vince, you are going to be required to play hard every game now.

Next, a somewhat equitable schedule would have to be put in place. With 4 seven-team divisions, teams would play each team in their own division 4 times (24 games), and teams outside their division 2 times (42 games). Yes, that is correct basketball fans, a 66 game schedule! The winner of each division is rewarded with the 1-4 seeds, while the rest of the league fills out the 5-16 according to overall record. The 1st and 2nd rounds of the playoffs would be 5-game series, the final two rounds 7-game series. I can promise you, it would be fantastic basketball, played at an extremely high level. (Note: this essentially eliminates the conferences, however, we will keep them in place so the “purists” can sleep at night).

North East
Boston
Detroit
Cleveland
Chicago
New Jersey

New York
Toronto

South East
Miami
Orlando
Atlanta
Charlotte
Washington
Philadelphia
Indiana

North West

LA Lakers

Golden State

Utah

Sacramento

Portland

Milwaukee

LA Clippers

South West

San Antonio

Houston

Dallas

Phoenix

Denver

New Orleans

Oklahoma City

Utopia, by definition, does not exist. However, with a little creative scheduling, this concept is doable with the existing 30-team league while keeping an 82-game schedule. If anyone has any interest is seeing how, email me at mdcx@comcast.net. It was just a lot more fun making up my own league. Next week I will consummate my marriage to Jessica Alba as well.