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by MARK GREY 5.27.09 Aside from the fortune and fame, every NBA superstar has the same goal: to win a title. No matter how great a player is or was, he is always judged on whether he was able to win a Championship ring. For many players, an entire legacy can be shaped by their inability to capture a ring during their careers (see one Dominique Wilkens). The old saying is that 90 percent of life is showing up, and when it comes to winning the NBA finals, nothing could be more true. The hardest part is actually making it to the finals. For any NBA superstar looking for the quickest road to a ring, here’s a free tip: Go East.
Anyone who has watched the NBA over the last week alone knows that anything can happen in any series. The Finals are no different. No matter how big of an underdog a team may be, once that team makes it to the finals, it has a great shot at winning the oh-so-coveted title. For many great players stuck in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, the biggest problem in winning the finals is making it there in the first place Over the last 10 years the only 3 different teams have made the finals from the West, while the East has sent 8 diferent teams. One look at the post-Jordan era in the NBA and it’s clear that the easiest road to the finals is in the East.
After spending 12 years in the West fighting as hard as anyone in the NBA, Kevin Garnett took his game out East looking for a ring. After just one year in the Eastern Conference, KG was able to do what he couldn’t do in 12 years out West: make the finals and win a ring. While the Big Ticket is the latest to benefit from a weaker Eastern Conference, he isn’t the first nor will he be the last.
In 2003, after spending seven seasons in the West on very talented Portland teams that could never get past the Lakers, Rasheed Wallace found himself traded to the Pistons. A few months after being traded, Wallace was somewhere he had never been: the NBA finals. In fact, with him, the Pistons made the finals two years in a row, winning one of them.
All-Stars Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen played together for five years in the West, never making it past the second round of the playoffs. After five years they split up and both headed East. Allen made the finals his first year in the East and now in just his second season, Lewis is playing in the Conference finals and is just one win away from the NBA finals.
2003’s draft class is known for its big three: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and D. Wade. They came in as the NBA’s next generation and all three have lived up to the hype and proven to be great talents. Two of them were drafted to Eastern Conference teams and one headed out West. Surprise, surprise - the two who played in the East have both already made trips to the finals, while before this year, Carmelo couldn’t even get his team out of the first round.
In the middle of this season, veterans Joe Smith and Drew Gooden became sought-after free agents who were looked at as pieces that could push a contender that much closer to a title. Gooden decided to sign with the Spurs, who were eliminated in the first round, while Smith joined the Cavs and is currently playing in the conference finals.
While the West has won seven of the last 10 NBA finals, the road there is anything but easy. In today’s game, Yao Ming and Dwight Howard are the two best centers. It took Yao seven seasons to make it out of the first round while Howard only needed four, and by his fifth season, he was in the conference finals. The difference is, while Yao is running into 55- win teams like the Lakers and the Mavericks in the first round, Howard has the luxury of playing 40-win teams like the Sixers and Raptors. While Melo is out West running into the Lakers and Spurs in the first round, Wade and James are playing teams like the Wizards and the Nets. The eastern conference first round playoffs have become almost nothing more than a formality thanks to the lack of good teams. The East is known for having several teams under 500 while the West contains teams that have finished with 48 wins and missed the post-season. In the West, the combination of Shaq, Steve Nash, Jason Richardson and Amare Stoudemire doesn’t even get you a trip to the playoffs, but in the East, combinations of Andre Iguodala and Samuel Dalembert get you a number six seed.
There is no question that the road to the finals in the East has a lot less hurdles, but there’s no telling how long it will stay that way. But as long as things stay the same, MVPs like Dirk, Kobe, and Tim Duncan will continue to knock each other off out West, while players like Howard and James will continue to feast on inferior talent in the East. So with the 2010 free agent class scheduled to be the most talented ever, I suggest any stars looking to make the finals head East, and if you can get another star to go with you, your road will be that much easier.
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