Basketball · Research

Abolishing NBA Conferences

2017-18Updated Aug 4, 2017Archived
Project Overview

A playoff-seeding study showing that NBA conference alignment excluded deserving teams in 12 of 15 seasons, then comparing wildcard, conference-free, and tennis-style bracket alternatives.

Problem & Objective

The Eastern and Western conferences have had persistent strength disparities, meaning equally skilled teams face vastly different paths to the playoffs and Finals.

Analytical Approach

The team quantifies inter-conference win-rate differentials across multiple seasons and models alternative seeding formats using historical standings data.

Key Result & Impact

The analysis demonstrates significant competitive imbalance and shows that conference-blind seeding would have changed playoff fields substantially in most recent seasons.

Tech Stack & Tools
Basketball-ReferencePlayoff seedingSchedule analysis