According to all of the reports coming out about the NBA’s finalized restart plans, which includes eight regular season games for 22 teams and a potential play-in tournament for the 8th seed in each conference. But in lieu of a group stage or letting top seeds pick their first-round opponent, executives from the top seeds in the league, presumably Milwaukee, Toronto, and both L.A. teams, are trying to figure out a way to preserve some semblance of homecourt advantage, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Among the proposed advantages are: an extra coaches challenge for higher-seeded teams and giving them the ball to start the second, third and fourth quarter. They have also pitched giving top teams first pick of accommodations at the Walt Disney Resort. While it’s good to know that top seeds are thinking this and the report also called these proposals a “Hail Mary,” all of these proposals are infinitely more ridiculous than a potential group stage would have been.
A group stage, while mixing teams up regardless of conference, would have retained some hierarchy for the top seeds, without the unnecessary bastardization of the basic tenents of basketball. But that ship has sailed as the NBA’s proposal of a traditional East vs. West format, with a play-in tournament for the 8th seed in each conference. It will be interesting to see if Silver budges to the top seeds requests. But he shouldn’t feel forced to do so.
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