Lebron on play-in games: "Whoever came up with that s*** needs to be fired"

Not commenting on any of the posts in this thread -- some are really good -- but just want to point out how far the quality of the NBA, as a product, has fallen, when fans are left to dissect trivial little comments from a star instead of what's happening on the floor, (which is usually totally boring).

It's sad, because I've loved the sport for so many years and now it's like watching junior-high girls gossip about one another in between them shooting three-pointers for 48 minutes.

 

Some of it is the social media age. It's inevitable that how fans talk about entertainment, sports, celebrities, etc. is very different from how we did it when we were high school kids.

But I agree that the entertainment quality of the NBA games has dropped quite considerably, like what is being said in the "Suck Tax" thread.

 

Well the 7th and 8th seeded teams did play better in the regular season than the 9th and 10th teams which is why they should be in the Playoffs. Playing those extra games seems pointless and unfair. Also, the discrepancy in the quality of teams is huge even among the lower seeded teams. A bad team can still upset a good team if it's a sudden death round.

 

I love that you left Pippen out of this statement....

 

Playin tournament is like a second chance to take an admission exam; where there are limited spots.

While I get the reasons, personally not a fan of it. It's unfair to the teams who originally seeded 7 or 8. And the danger/excitement is artificially manufactured. Either your team is good enough get in or not. It also unnecessary complicates the format for casuals.

Since Rockets is out of playoff contention; I probably won't watch most of the playoffs games. Maybe catch a few from the Nets, to see if Harden gets one.

As far as Lebron, I hope he retires soon. Let the next era of NBA stars shine.

 

Wrong.

 

i dont mind the play in because you are playing 10 less games and so many have had to miss games due to covid/quarantine at disproportionate rates then records may not really reflect what they would be in a normal year. I do think it should more be between 8 and 9 than throwing the 7 seed into it. Lebron is only whining because they have a strong chance of being in it. He wouldn't care if they were 1 seed

 

I actually like the play-in. If u are good enough avoid the 8th seed, then it wouldnt b such a problem.

Lewon James is just btching cause he might have to participate in the play-in and get booted

 

And the 7th and 8th seeds have a higher chance of advancing past the play in than the 9th and 10th seed, so that seems to fair to me. Yeah, there is increased incentive to try to get to a 6th seed to avoid having to do the play in. I don’t see a problem with that. The point is to make more games at the end of the regular season actually meaningful.

 

Whether you like it or not, a 20-team playoffs is no more "unfair" to any team than a 16-team playoffs or 10-team or 8-team. It's just a format decided before the season that every team would play for.

 

The only big difference is none of those guys had unrestricted free agency until...ironically...Jordan fought for it after he already won titles. Why are you giving them credit for something they didn't have the right to do? Stuck it out? Magic won in season 1 and Bird in season 2. FYI, Magic only left school early to play with Kareem. Hey, let me go play with the best player in the world in LA...real tough choice.

All of those players are hyper competitive guys that hated losing. It's laughable to think they would stay somewhere and try to win at a disadvantage.

 

As a Rockets fan I would vote for this season to be cancelled.

 

NFT of LeBron's tears...

Forever Priceless

No way... With the amount of crap her injects in his body what's a couple more needles?

 

Right. And the fans of the teams that will likely get swept in the first round will at least get a chance to watch some high pressure games in which their team can actually compete. I don't see why not.

 

i'm coming around on the play-in games. at first my thought was that it just watered the regular season down even more than a 16 team playoffs does (i love the playoffs so i don't want less teams). we already have enough issues with load management and a seeming increase in blowouts in recent years (maybe it's just perception). but now you see a team like washington actually playing real games instead of just shutting everyone down like they would in a normal format. you see the increased drama in the 6/7 seeds trying to avoid the play-in games. i think it's actually added something. i'm generally a "they earned it over 72/82 games, why should they have to play 1 more game" kind of person, but going back to the original comment about how many teams make the playoffs, have the 7th and 8th seeds really "earned" anything. in MLB and the NFL they wouldn't be in the playoffs. it's just been arbitrarily set to 16 teams because it's a power of 2, not because the 13th-16th best teams should really be in the playoffs. you also have 82 games to avoid being the 7th seed. so if the drama is slightly increased at the expense of the 13th-16th best teams having to play an extra game or two, i guess i'm cool with it.

insane that right now steph and lebron would play in the first play-in game.

 

You aren’t wrong, but the fact the playin determines lottery position, too, is waaaay wrong. It allows the 7-8s to tank just two games, if they want. In fact, you could stretch this to the 6th seeds who get late-season injury and decide to bail all the way down to the lottery, maybe even 10th pick for Eastern teams.

you can’t tell me that wouldn’t be a yearly debate on Fan sites of teams who are perennial first-round fodder in the 7th and 8th spot. “We should tank the play-in...who’s with me!”

 

Can you explain this a little bit better? I'm not following...

 

Lottery position isn’t set by Wins at the end of regular season, as it usually is. No matter what your record is at end of season, the 14 lotto teams include those 4 teams eliminated from the post-season play-in.

Example: POR could get 7th best record in West, and tank just two play-in games, and rob us of their FRP, since it is lottery protected.

 

LBJ wants a clear path to the Finals, pmsl.

 

That's what confused me. Until somebody corrected me, I had assumed that the draft would follow the regular season records, not after the play in. That's why I made the "last minute tanking" comment.

Imagine if the Lakers have both LeBron and AD injured at the end of the regular season with no hope to play in the first round, they can tank the two play-in games and get a lotto pick.