As I was talking to my cousin today I realized there is a really crazy trend in the NBA right now. Everyone who is a fan of the sport has more than likely already had the argument of which conference is the strongest. The majority of un-biased fans that only go off numbers will say the western conference is by far better. And by what I am about to show you have been for a long enough time for the eastern conference to play catch up.
Year after year we see some eastern conference team get high pick after high pick. While in the western conference you never quite see the immediate impact as you do in the east. Teams like the Bulls, Cavs, and even the Heat until yesterday, survived off one player for sometime. They all eventually got some help and the Heat got one title out of it. And while all this was going on out east, out west owners and gm's were building franchises that are now ageing.
In the east many teams are jockeying for the top spot. Some may say Pat Riley just bullied the Heat into the number one spot yesterday afternoon. The Cavs were there along with the Magic and Celtics. Now the Celts are like one of the older western conference teams. With the exception of Rajon Rondo. He is their diamond in the rough and they'll more than likely build off his high intensity and defense. After the big 3 retire of course. The Heat was never elite in recent years though Dwayne Wade was on many occasions. If the MVP was only based on performance and what you meant to your team alone he would already have one. Unfortunately it goes off you trams record as well. We all know what Lebron was to the Cavs. The owner is saying he quit in the playoffs. That's ridiculous, it seemed like the Cavs upper management quit to get him in the first place. And without him they'll be a lottery team. Dwight Howard is the main reason James doesn't have a ring and that's that. All these players came within 5 years of each other really only Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant made impacts like that out west. Yao was decent his rookie year and so was O.J. Mayo, but nothing like the other two named above.
Out east teams like the Hawks have built most of the core to their team through the draft. Marvin Williams, Al Horford, and Josh Smith were all drafted to Atlanta. only Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson were signed of traded for. As this is going on the top 4 teams in the west are the Lakers, Suns, Spurs, and the Mavericks.
All these teams still have the same core players they did 7 years ago. Most are at the end of the road or very close. The time will soon come when Durant and select few will be fighting for the western conference.Soon we will be watching the Warriors Steph Curry playing against Tyreke Evans and think of it as more than a rookie match up. Soon when a eastern conference team won't just be counted out before the finals start because there's only one Kobe. Soon Miami's three new wonder twins will have to beat a fierce and very talented Thunder led by Durant, Harden, Green, and Westbrook. Rumor had it Melo is going with Amare to The Garden, barring some freak accident in which the Nuggets make it to the finals.
Kobe is still great and I believe the Lakers have at least two more in the tank from the current players. But a dynasty will fall as guys like Bryant, Duncan, Nash, and Nowitzki retire. And younger players like Wade, James, Bosh, Anthony, Rose, and Stodemire are readying themselves for a shot at history.
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