Luka’s Corner

One of the biggest problems for the NBA these days, in my opinion, is the Western Conference’s dominance over the Eastern Conference. For example, in the All-Star Game, the West simply out-ran, out-hustled, and out-played the East on both sides of the floor, winning with a final score of 153-132. They were simply too talented for the East.

When you just look at the players from the West, you just find it unbelievable how one-sided the league is. You have Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion, and Amare Stoudemire. In this list alone, we have the season MVP, All-Star MVP, scoring leader, assist leader, rebounding leader, and steals leader. Not to mention that Marcus Camby (of the Nuggets) was named Defensive Player of the Year and Monta Ellis (of the Warriors) was named Most Improved Player. This incredible dominance of the stats and awards given out during the season proves my point that the West is just too dominant at the time being.

As we all know Dirk was MVP this season, closely edging out Steve Nash (of Phoenix) and Kobe Bryant (of Los Angeles), but the most amazing feat for Nowitzki is his team’s sheer dominance during the regular season. He led the Mavs to 67 wins and three separate win streaks of 10 games or more. Not only did Dallas do this, but they also dismantled all Eastern Conference opposition, posting a 27-3 record against teams from the East. This shows you how much tougher it is to play in the West than in the East. Even when you look at teams contending for a title around the league, you hear the same old names (San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix). Only one team from the East (Detroit) is competing for a championship on a regular basis.

Now…as if Western dominance wasn’t enough already, the league also has two new potential superstars coming to play in the West also. These two stars are Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who are most likely going to Portland and Seattle. This makes competition even more one-sided because not only do you have most of the established NBA stars playing out West, but you will also have the two kids of the future potentially balling there also. This causes an even more serious problem for the league because the West’s dominance looks to stay put for the next ten years at least. The disappointing part of all this is that the East does not appear to be improving from its now miserable state. In the Playoffs, 3 out of the 8 Eastern Conference teams had only a .500 record or less (Orlando actually had a 40-42 record) and only one team posted more than 50 wins (Detroit, with 53). On the other hand, in the West, all of the Playoff teams had a winning record and five posted more than 50 wins (Dallas with 67, Phoenix with 61, San Antonio with 58, Houston with 52, and Utah with 51).

Unless some major change occurs where the East gains another superstar or two, I do not see Western dominance going anywhere. The West is the better conference in the NBA right now, and will also be better in the future (with Oden and Durant highlighting that future group of players).

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