Here are the numbers, In the last 13 years, the only seeds to reach the conference finals were the #1-4 seeds. In the last 13 years a #4 seed has made it to the Finals only 2 twice and never won. In the last 13 years the #3 seed has only won 4 times, the rest were #1 and #2 seeds. In the modern NBA you have to be at least #4 seed to make it to the Conference Finals and at least #3 seed if you want any chance at winning a NBA Championship. Seeds #5-8 mean absolutely nothing and give you no chance at a NBA Finals appearance. Before everyone mentions the 1999 NY Knicks, it was a shorten season and albeit an outlier anyways. In the last 13 years a 5 seed hasn't even made it to the Conference Finals. In the last 13 years a 4 seed has made it to the conference finals only 5 times. In the last 13 years a 4 seed only has a made the eastern conference finals twice! and the western conference finals 3 times in the last 13 years.
It's hard to enjoy the NBA of you are not a 1-4 seed, a 5 seed statistically has the same outcome as an 8 seed. Even if your team is a 4 seed going into the playoffs you're really counting on only a %15 chance of making the NBA finals based upon the last 13 years. Yes one of these years a 4 seed will win a NBA Championship but in the current modern era It might be 25 years before it happens. Yes in 1995 the Rockets won the NBA Championship for the first time ever for a 6th Seed.
You have to go back to 1981 for a 6th seed to make it to the Finals before the 95 Rockets which it was the Rockets again and they lost that series 4-2 but even back then only 6 teams made the playoffs. You have to go back to 1978 when the other 4 seed made it to the NBA Finals which Seattle lost to the Bullets 4-3.
Maybe Lebron was right when he said maybe the NBA need to get rid of some teams, and maybe my Milwaukee Bucks is one of those teams. Milwaukee being the 2nd smallest media market at 2.5M maybe just doesn't provide enough support for an owner to make his team competitive.
Baseball, just make it to the playoffs, NFL, just make it to the playoffs, NHL, just make it to the playoffs
NBA just make it to the 1-2 seed to have a good chance at winning and a 3 seed for a good chance to make the Finals, 4 seed well, only a 15% chance on making the NBA Finals.
Maybe the NBA needs to cut 4 teams from each league, whatever they do nothing will be done until Stern is gone and his predecessor is a student of David Stern so I doubt much will change.
I think we need more parody in the NBA because right now, it's not that there isn't enough, there is none at all!
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http://www.city-data.com/forum/basketball/1825593-nba-finals-4-8-seeds-need.html#ixzz2jKN7u5IT
