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Official 2018 NBA Offseason Thread: the preseason cometh

Name an Eastern Conference player who led his team to the Finals in the 90s.
 
I don't think it's an anomaly. I think it's been that way for close to 20 years, since Jordan's 2nd retirement. The top teams in the West have been significantly better than the top teams in the East.

Name a current Eastern Conference player who has led an Eastern Conference team to a Finals? Not a championship. Just the Finals.

Wade
Lebron
Howard

You can throw in Rondo if you want.

OK, but why?

Does the Western Conference just have better run organizations? Or is there something that you think needs to be changed?
 
You know it's slow day/week in sports when PhD trots out his NBA East v. West arguments again.

Not sure, but guessing there may be a link between LeBron's 7 straight trips to the NBA finals via the Eastern Conference, and the fact that no Eastern Conference team without LeBron have made the NBA finals.
 
I think you missed his point, RJ.

You can't say the East sucks by pointing to Lebron and saying he's the only one that has taken his team to the NBA Finals because the same thing could be said about Jordan's Bulls in the 90s.

At least I think that was his point.

It's a superstar league... Whether they are in the East or the West seems pretty random to me. I'd contend the NBA is top-heavy, regardless of conference.
 
You know it's slow day/week in sports when PhD trots out his NBA East v. West arguments again.

Not sure, but guessing there may be a link between LeBron's 7 straight trips to the NBA finals via the Eastern Conference, and the fact that no Eastern Conference team without LeBron have made the NBA finals.

LOL. That's only the last 7 years. I'm talking about all current players.

Pilchard, I'll listen to your argument that the East and West aren't lopsided. I think the West simply has more talent than the East by a longshot. Most Eastern Conference stars are players causal fans won't remember in 20 years.


Juice, here is the list of Eastern Conference players in 1998 who had led their teams to Finals.

Jordan
Pippen
Ewing
Hardaway
Dumars

If you want to make the argument the East has been weaker for more than 20 years, I'll listen.
 
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I think you missed his point, RJ.

You can't say the East sucks by pointing to Lebron and saying he's the only one that has taken his team to the NBA Finals because the same thing could be said about Jordan's Bulls in the 90s.

At least I think that was his point.

It's a superstar league... Whether they are in the East or the West seems pretty random to me. I'd contend the NBA is top-heavy, regardless of conference.

It didn't come across that way to me. Plus, I gave others.

It's always been a superstars league and always will be. You may have a year that's an aberration but not overall.
 
pippen tried to lead his team to finals without jordan, it didn't go well.

1 out of every 3 ph posts on the nba thread is about east vs. west now. it's become his version of philly process posts.

it's not ideal but i'm not sure it's that big of a deal and there is nothing the league can do about it.
 
Again, this is just pointless off-season drivel.

In 2013, Miami beat Indiana 4 games to 3 in the EC Final. Miami then beat the Spurs 4 games to 3 in the Final. Would the East suddenly be a different conference if Paul George had led the Pacers past the Heat that year?
 
Golden State Superteam
Lebron James
Kobe Bryant / Shaquille O'Neal / Tim Duncan
Michael Jordan
Bad Boys
Lakers (Magic) vs. Celtics (Bird)

That's the NBA over my entire lifetime.

There is some overlap at times on that list. And there have been one-offs (Dirk and the Mavs, Boston's Big Three, and the Rockets going back to back while Jordan did something else for a couple of years). But you usually know who the best 1-2 (maybe 3) teams are before every NBA season starts. That isn't a new phenomenon, regardless of which conference they play in.
 
Again, this is just pointless off-season drivel.

In 2013, Miami beat Indiana 4 games to 3 in the EC Final. Miami then beat the Spurs 4 games to 3 in the Final. Would the East suddenly be a different conference if Paul George had led the Pacers past the Heat that year?

You're asking if George would be more highly regarded if he had made an NBA Finals thus leading to more star power in the East. Correct?

Yeah. Of course.
 
LOL. That's only the last 7 years. I'm talking about all current players.

Pilchard, I'll listen to your argument that the East and West aren't lopsided. I think the West simply has more talent than the East by a longshot. Most Eastern Conference stars are players causal fans won't remember in 20 years.


Juice, here is the list of Eastern Conference players in 1998 who had led their teams to Finals.

Jordan
Pippen
Ewing
Hardaway
Dumars

If you want to make the argument the East has been weaker for more than 20 years, I'll listen.

But this is bullshit; you're conflating two separate arguments.

Yes, LeBron has run through the East over and over again over the past decade, and aside from him, the only players to lead teams to the Finals in the past ~8 years in the East have been Dwight and Rondo.

But that's a different argument than "there are no active players who have led EC teams to the Finals in the past 20 years ha ha ha", because 20 years is a significantly long time, and guys like Ewing, Iverson, Miller, Kidd, Billups, and Pierce/Garnett, each of whom has led a team to the Finals in the past 20 years, don't play basketball anymore. The East went 3-3 in Finals from 2003-08, and LeBron was involved in exactly one of those series (which happened to be a loss). It's a stupid argument from a Spurs fuccboi.
 
One interesting detail to the Celtics/Sixers deal that wasn't disclosed yesterday - if the Lakers pick doesn't convey in 2018, Celtics get either the Sixers or Kings pick in 2019, whichever is higher, unless either of those picks is #1. Sixers keep a #1 pick regardless, and the Celtics get the lower pick.
 
One interesting detail to the Celtics/Sixers deal that wasn't disclosed yesterday - if the Lakers pick doesn't convey in 2018, Celtics get either the Sixers or Kings pick in 2019, whichever is higher, unless either of those picks is #1. Sixers keep a #1 pick regardless, and the Celtics get the lower pick.

The Sixers have to spend a buttload of money this summer. If Embiid and Simmons are healthy for the next two years, I'll be very surprised if they don't make the playoffs.
 
One interesting detail to the Celtics/Sixers deal that wasn't disclosed yesterday - if the Lakers pick doesn't convey in 2018, Celtics get either the Sixers or Kings pick in 2019, whichever is higher, unless either of those picks is #1. Sixers keep a #1 pick regardless, and the Celtics get the lower pick.

no way do the kings end up being better than the sixers in two years
 
The Sixers have to spend a buttload of money this summer. If Embiid and Simmons are healthy for the next two years, I'll be very surprised if they don't make the playoffs.

That seems like a reasonable situation to rely on.
 
Just stating the terms, fellas. Celtics being locked out of the #1 pick is the more interesting detail, obviously.
 
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