Remember when Michael Jordan retired (the second time) and everyone complained about how much more dominant the NBA Western Conference was? Yea, that is over with. I hereby dub the NBA’s Western Conference as the NBA’s junior varsity. Levels above the G League and Euroleague but a class below the East. What a spectacular run when looking at it in retrospect. You had dynasties in the LA Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. The current run by the Golden State Warriors has rivaled Jordan’s Bulls to some degree. A ton of top-shelf NBA Western Conference teams are littered between those dynasties and nearly broke through themselves. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets immediately come to mind. But all of that is in the past and here is why.
The East Has Budding Rivalries and Rising Stars
The Varsity team shines bright with their rivalries and stars. You have the 2021 champion, the Milwaukee Bucks with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Former NBA Champions Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant with the Brooklyn Nets. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo with the Miami Heat. James Harden and Joel Embiid with the Philadelphia 76ers. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with the Boston Celtics. So many names.
The best part about these teams is they all have seen each other in the playoffs. Miami has seen Boston multiple times. Boston has faced Brooklyn multiple times. Milwaukee has battled Philly. It’s an endless round-robin of fun that fans can truly buy into even if all of these guys grew up together as friends off the court.
The East also has tremendous young talent buoying the lower-ranked teams and providing strong contributions for contenders. It’s very exciting watching the likes of Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, LaMelo Ball, Tyler Herro, and Tyrese Maxey develop.
Teams like the New York Knicks and the Chicago Bulls are a star away from making a ton of noise in those major markets also.
The NBA Western Conference Is Top Heavy With Issues
Other than the Memphis Grizzlies with superstar Ja Morant, what team in the West truly has an exciting future?
I want to argue for the Phoenix Suns, the team with the best record last season, but their leader Chris Paul will be 38 years old next season. The Suns before Chris Paul were not even a playoff team.
I love Luka Doncic but who will you pair him with? The Dallas Mavericks are over the cap and need to figure it out rather than wear out Doncic for any more seasons. He was a star in Europe for years before the NBA, making him an “old” 23 years old.
The Lakers mortgaged their entire future for a Bubble championship. Now they have an old team, an enigmatic Russell Westbrook, and an injury-prone Anthony Davis to cap off this over-the-cap team. Why would NBA superstar and future Hall-of-Famer LeBron James stay for that? The newly-minted Forbes billionaire has other options and rumor has it that LeBron is looking around.
The Denver Nuggets have back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic. Not sure how valuable is a first-round playoff exit, but ok. I don’t want to hear anything about injuries. Michael Porter Jr. was hurt when you drafted him. Now he makes nine figures. We can only assume Jamal Murray will be back to his explosive self after the ACL injury cost him this past season.
Lack of Interest Elsewhere
Very little excitement among the rest of the junior varsity conference. Who knows what Damian Lillard is doing with the Portland Trailblazers? Nobody knows what the Sacramento Kings are doing. The Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs leave a lot to be desired. The Rockets and Thunder are churning away as glorified G-League teams. Destined to develop draft talent only to trade the players for more picks instead of paying them.
Maybe it’s a product of the East getting all of those top picks over the years but I don’t see any former number one picks dominating the East right now. This is why the NBA Western Conference is home to the league’s junior varsity.
The NBA Finals
This brings me to this year’s NBA Finals between the old guard in the Golden State Warriors versus the Boston Celtics. It is a drama-filled series that is currently tied at two games apiece. Neither team has won more than one game in a row but all wins have been by double digits.
I understand the Warriors are sacrosanct among the Twitter faithful and national pundits but the junior varsity persona applies to them too. Maybe crushing the dynastic Warriors runs contrary to the public perception (and a tied-up Finals series), but hear me out.
Mighty Warriors
What would you say is the difference between these brilliant Stephen Curry Finals games and the Jimmy Butler show we just witnessed in the last series? The Celtics have already shown the ability to withstand supernova heroics from the likes of KD, the Greek Freak, and Jimmy Buckets. Boston has gone months without losing two games in a row.
What is the difference between playoff Draymond Green and playoff Ben Simmons right now?
Much like Simmons, Green has looked terrified of shooting the basketball and it permeates through the rest of his game. This resulted in defense-for-offense benching throughout the end of game four.
Klay Thompson has been running hot and cold for the Finals. He is currently trying swimming therapy to get himself together for the last few games.
Sometimes I feel so exasperated with coach Steve Kerr’s decision-making. Maybe it is a result of off-the-court team distractions. Half of Kerr’s coaching staff has been interviewing and accepting other NBA jobs during the playoffs. He has altered his rotations numerous times to the point where it seems more like he is trying to throw his counterpart Ime Udoka off of the scent rather than apply any disciplined coaching maneuver. Warriors fans can only hope his tinkering doesn’t cost them the newly designed Larry O’Brien trophy.
Steph and the Rest
The entire Warriors playoff run feels like it is just about Steph Curry trying to solidify himself in the NBA pantheon. A mythical pound-for-pound if you will. Whereas most NBA followers do see Curry as a top 30 player of all time, his resume should put him in the top five. A Finals MVP would help his cause long-term. Short-term, Steph Curry is much like a varsity player in a junior varsity conference.
As for the rest of the Warriors roster, I can’t see them having the same success next year. But next year is next year. Enjoy your last hurrah while you can JV team. And go win that fourth ring.
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