The Worst Conference in Basketball? I do not think that is an accurate description of the Eastern Conference, I think it is more like the worst conference in sports history. Bill Simmons can give you a few stats over at ESPN but I have some highlights for you. First off, and perhaps the most disturbing is that the Hawks, the Atlanta Hawks, not the Briscoe Hawks, may make the playoffs... in the sport of basketball. Is this for real?
Of the top ten teams in the NBA right now, only three of them are from the Eastern conference: Orlando, Detroit and Cleveland. Orlando is an anomaly, because Detroit and Cleveland are at the bottom of the pack, while Orlando is currently second. Okay now let's take a look at the bottom of the NBA. Ohhhhh, no way, seven of the bottom ten, are from ... the Eastern conference. The disparity between two conferences in a sport has never been so huge. This is huger than the AFC and the NFC, or the AL and the NL. This is a comparison between the SEC and the mid-Atlantic conference.
What is worst is how much sports writers and observers were hyping up the Eastern conference this year. With two of the three "young stunnas" ('Melo, Lebron and Wade), the reigning national champions and annual champion contenders in Detroit, Indiana and New Jersey. Not too mention the re-tooled Bulls, who were supposed to be able to hold a candle to Michael Jordan's team. What a letdown.