[Senator Clay Davis]

I'll start by saying that even if the Celtics had played all of their opponents fully healthy they probably still would have won the title, especially since that qualifier would grant them a healthy Porzingis for the playoffs. Denver might have been the only team who could have really challenged them, but acting like Boston wasn't a great team is disingenuous. A starting five of Holiday-Tatum-Brown-White-Porzingis is elite, and their bench has solid contributors. Seeing the "all-time great team" conversations that we're seeing is of course offensive, but it's the era of driving clicks so it's to be expected.

But it's time to get rid of conferences. NBA playoff schedule is so stretched out to begin with that they could easily do it with an extra travel day when needed. The imbalance only figures to get worse as the Spurs rise and Grizzlies come back, while the East is banking on the Cavs and Magic (lolololololol) to elevate the floor of the conference. Rejig the schedule to try and balance it overall, but getting us the 16 best teams seeded fairly can only help.