Could the NBA eliminate conferences altogether?

Could the NBA eliminate conferences altogether?

Watching the Eastern Conference and Western Conference through the first month of the 2024-25 NBA season has been like watching two different sports. The standings reflect that, too.

While the Cleveland Cavaliers (17-1) and Boston Celtics (15-3) own the league’s two-best records, only three other teams–the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks and Miami Heat–have a record of .500 or better; each of the West’s top-11 teams, led by Oklahoma City, meet that threshold, including nine teams who are at least two games above .500.

If you look at it purely from a NET Rating perspective, six of the top-10 and 12 of the top-18 are in the top half in adjusted NET, according to Dunks & Threes. That’s 80 percent of the West in the 40th percentile or greater across the NBA, which is pretty dramatic.

Would the league be better off eliminating conferences entirely? It appears executives in the West have been pining for the idea, according to a recent report.

“Instead of dealing with that thorny competition, West executives told ESPN they believe both issues can be corrected by dropping conferences altogether and seeding teams 1 through 16 regardless of geography,” ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst wrote last week. “The concept has been raised before. But expansion, the thinking goes, would create a reason to take a fresh look.”

This has been a topic of conversation for years. Commissioner Adam Silver has floated eliminating divisions and has been asked about potential conference realignment. We are seeing postseason formats change across multiple North American sports–specifically in college–and we do know that Silver likes parity. Thus, it shouldn’t be ruled out of the question once expansion is finalized.

On one hand, it would be difficult for league executives in the East to agree to this considering the potential ramifications. So I’m not expecting it to occur anytime soon, though it is an interesting proposition.

On the other, super teams or no super teams, you’re getting the 16-best teams to compete on the NBA’s biggest stage. Last year, 14 of the 16 in adjusted NET made the postseason; in 2022-23, it was 13; in 2021-22, it was 14. So it’s not completely different than it would be in a normal year. Matchups would obviously be different because of seeding, and there would be no more “conference championships,” which adds interest to intrigue. But if the two teams in the West or East squared off, so be it.

I would also wonder how the league would modify the schedule, which could also cause rift between some owners. Travel would be much different, which could affect players’ bodies; we know the NBA won’t shorten the schedule because of money, so that’s out of the question.

However, true “rivalries” (regionally) leaguewide don’t necessarily exist much anymore, unlike in NFL, MLB or NHL. The best is arguably the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, considering they’ve met in the postseason in four of the last five years, including in the East Finals twice. No legitimate inter-conference bad blood could also be an incentive to explore a no-conference format.

I’m not sure when–or if–this proposal will come to fruition. But I am open to the idea of shifting things around, especially once there are 32 teams, whether it’s re-seeding each of the conference’s top-8 to 1-16 or eliminating conferences altogether.

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