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
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