LeBron James opposed to idea of NBA playoff reseeding - cleveland.com

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The conversation about playoff reseeding has been going on for quite some time. But it gained a bit more momentum during NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver discussed the topic at length, even raising the possibility about a future tweak.

Count LeBron James as one player who wouldn't be on board.

"I would disagree with that," James said Wednesday afternoon following the Cleveland Cavaliers' first practice since the break. "I think our league has been built the right way as far as when it comes to the postseason."

According to Silver, there have been a few talking points in the league office over the last few years. The idea of taking the top eight teams from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference and reseeding them 1-16 based on overall record is something that continues to get kicked around. The other option, if reform is the goal, is to ignore conference affiliation completely, taking the 16 best teams from the regular season.

As Silver mentioned during his annual get-together Saturday night, there are numerous challenges, including playoff travel and in-season scheduling to make sure all teams faced the same schedule. Any change would require 20 of the 30 NBA teams to vote in favor.

"There's been dominant conferences throughout time," James said. "In the '80s you had the Lakers who dominated the league at one point, then you had Boston that dominated the league. In the '90s you had Chicago that dominated the league. San Antonio also had its run. We had our run in the East with Miami, Golden State is having their run.

"It just changes the landscape of the history of the game. If you start messing with seedings and playoffs and then you start talking about, 'Well, if this team would have played this Western Conference team, what (would have happened) ...'

"It's cool to mess around with the All-Star Game, we proved you can do that, but let's not get too crazy about the playoffs. You have Eastern Conference and you have Western Conference. You have Eastern Conference champions, you have guys from the Eastern Conference that win the big dance and sometimes you have it from the West as well."

James said he doesn't take offense to the belief that the East is weaker, even being nicknamed "Leastern Conference" by some talking heads.

This season, the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors -- both part of the stacked Western Conference -- boast the league's two best records. The Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Cavaliers are the next three followed by the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Going by the hypothetical 1-16 ranking system, the Cavs would be the fifth seed, creating a much tougher road back to the NBA Finals.

Cleveland would also be one of seven teams from the East, almost a 50-50 split. 

"You go out and play," James said. "I've been a part of the Eastern Conference my whole career and we've been very, very competitive. There's been years where we weren't as good. If I can think from once I got into the league, it's been us, I've done it three times, Detroit, Boston, Miami in '06, that's like seven championships out of 14 years. That's half, right? So what are we talking about?"

Technically it's six of 14 since James entered the NBA in 2003. But he makes a valid point.

These dominant runs tend to be cyclical. For nearly four years, Miami was the league's preeminent force, winning two titles in that stretch. Then came Golden State, which has gone to the Finals three straight seasons and won a pair of championships. Who knows which team could be next? 

"Why even mess with it?" head coach Tyronn Lue asked. "It's fine the way it's always been."

next page

Tweet