The NBA has a relatively simple seeding system. Every team plays 82 games throughout the regular season and fights for a better position in the playoffs. Teams with better records gain homecourt advantage throughout the postseason, which is often crucial.
The league has made several changes to the seeding system over the past few decades. Division winners are no longer granted one of the top seeds, and four teams from each conference fight for the playoffs through the play-in tournament.
However, it’s important to note that the NBA does not reseed teams in the playoffs. Due to this, that won’t be the case in the 2023 playoffs as well.
NBA teams do not go through the reseeding process
Reseeding is a process that benefits teams with the best records in the league. This process is used in several sports leagues around the world, including the NFL. However, the NBA has not implemented this system yet.
Instead, the professional basketball league uses a fixed bracket that doesn’t change throughout the postseason. The bracket is made at the start of the playoffs and is used from the first to the last round.
Reseeding ensures that top-seeded teams face the worst opponents in every stage of the playoffs.
If the eighth-seeded Miami Heat defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, they’d be matched up against the highest-seeded team in the second round, the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
Instead, if the Heat survive the Bucks, they will face the winner of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers (fourth seed) and the New York Knicks (fifth seed).
Reseeding is a proper reward for teams that fought hard during the regular season. The NBA may implement it in the future, but there is no need for it at the moment.
Furthermore, some sports leagues have an odd number of teams in the playoffs. Due to this, top-seeded teams, which are teams that benefit from reseeding, usually skip the first round of the playoffs.
Considering that Adam Silver has made many changes to the seeding system since 2016, it will be interesting to see if the league implements this system in the future.
The regular season lasts for 82 games, so giving a proper reward to a top-seeded team doesn’t sound like a bad idea. However, this also lowers the possibility of an underdog reaching the finals, which is something many basketball fans enjoy.
