Silver is thinking bringing the European soccer model to the NBA.
When it comes to the NBA playfs, it’s been apparent over the last few years that the Western Conference has been significantly better than the East. In the past, teams with losing records have been able to make the playfs in the East because the lower standards competition. This creates a bit a problem though as there are teams in the West with better records than those Eastern Conference teams, although they don’t make the playfs. NBA commissioner Adam Silver understands this conundrum better than anyone and is reportedly thinking new ways to fix it.
According to Marc Stein the New York Times, Silver is looking at adding a midseason tournament to the schedule and is also thinking about a play-in tournament that would guarantee that the best 16 teams in the league make the playfs. In such a scenario, the eight teams per conference model would be shattered. If a midseason tournament were to occur, it would be reminiscent the European soccer model found in leagues like the Premier League.
“It’s incumbent on me to constantly be looking at other organizations and seeing what it is we can do better and learn from them,” Silver said. “In the case European soccer, I think there is something we can learn from them.”
Neither these concepts are close to becoming a reality but Silver is, in fact, looking into them closely. It may take a few years for them to come to fruition, but it would certainly be interesting to see what midseason tournament would eventually look like.