While the NBA has never had complete parity before, the summer of 2019 has returned a semblance of competitive balance to the NBA.
Entering the 2014 NBA Playoffs, the league felt as wide open as it has ever been. In the regular season, nine teams had won over 50 games — seven of which were in the Western Conference.
NBA fans were blessed with five seven-game series in the first round and five six-game series as a whole. Complete parity has never existed in the NBA, but this felt like the closest thing to it. This kind of competitive balance created a buzz going into the playoffs that hasn’t existed since then.
Fans of multiple teams felt that their team could potentially win it all – an idea foreign to basketball fans over the past five seasons.
Many people who follow the league closely will tell you parity has never existed in the NBA and to an extent they’re correct. It’s true that complete parity, where more than half of the league has a legitimate shot at the game’s ultimate goal, has never existed in the NBA.
Superstar players and a soft salary cap make this nearly impossible to be true. However a league where more than three or four teams have title aspirations has always been attainable and has been attained before.
Going into the 2019-20 season, the NBA may finally be back to a state of competitive balance. The shadow of the Warriors no longer drapes over a once competitive league.
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Sure, there are teams that stick out from the pack, but one seemingly unbeatable monolith no longer controls the state of affairs in the NBA.
The Philadelphia 76ers brought back Tobias Harris and retooled with players like Al Horford and Josh Richardson, shaping the roster up to be a defensive juggernaut. The Los Angeles Lakers sacrificed a million first-round picks to pair Anthony Davis with LeBron James.
The Houston Rockets made a drastic swing for Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook. The LA Clippers made the most noise, snagging All-NBA stalwarts Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in one summer.
Then there are the good teams that made subtle tweaks, but for the most part, opted for continuity.
The Utah Jazz landed the steadying hand of Mike Conley along with Bojan Bogdanovic. Aside from Malcolm Brogdon, the Milwaukee Bucks brought back the core of their 60-win nucleus.
The Portland Trail Blazers swapped out Maurice Harkless, Meyers Leonard, and Al-Farouq Aminu with Kent Bazemore with Hassan Whiteside.
In addition to getting a healthy Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker back this season, the San Antonio Spurs re-signed Rudy Gay and added DeMarre Carroll in a sign-and-trade.
This crawl to competitive balance didn’t happen in one summer though. Last season, eight teams won over 50 games and the barrier of entry for the Western Conference playoffs was 48 wins. The Eastern Conference felt wide open with multiple teams jockeying for positioning.
Really, it took Kevin Durant‘s exodus from the Golden State Warriors to truly open up the league to more contenders.
“Why does it matter if the NBA is balanced or not?” is a fair question posed by many who were fine with the status quo. Should it matter if only two teams have a legitimate chance to win a title or if six teams do?
Many have tried, but the truth is it’s hard to quantify fan interest or entertainment value. However, the fact that the health of the league was brought into question by observers several times over the past few years is a problem in itself.
The NBA is gonna be a war every night next season. I can't wait
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) July 12, 2019
No longer does Adam Silver have to approach the podium at the All-Star break and answer questions about whether or not the Warriors are good for the league or not.
No longer do die-hards feel the need to defend their NBA fandom to casual observers who feel the end result is predetermined. No longer do fans have to enter every postseason with the ugly thought of, “Well you never know because injuries can happen”.
No longer do things feel so predictable.
Fans of other teams weren’t asking for their favorite teams to be gifted a championship; they were simply asking for a fighting chance. Now they may have that chance — or not. The bottom line is there is hope where there once wasn’t just a few months ago.
It’s truly a liberating feeling for the league as a whole and it should make for some truly entertaining basketball next season.