changing of the guard

On Saturday night I was glancing at the NBA standings. It was pretty shocking. Lakers, Mavericks and Suns are all on the bottom half of the conference while the typical punching bags of my youth (Clippers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Warriors) are suddenly powers of the West. Seems like the league has turned upside down. So I dug a little deeper.

I know it's still relatively early in the season. We haven't even hit the new year. But the comparison is remarkable, and especially not just in the West.

(Click the picture, open in a new tab/window for a reference)

Of the seven teams outside the playoffs in the East five years ago, six find themselves on the right side now. And in the West, five of the seven would be playing postseason basketball. When I was thinking about this on Saturday night, Portland was 13-12 (.520) and Denver was 15-14 (.517), so that would tip the Blazers up and even things at six for both conferences. Only the Kings and Bobcats are left out of the fun.

And not only that. The Sonics-turned-Thunder and the Heat have gone from bottom to top in their respective conferences, and the Knicks have gone from second-worst to second-best. Of course, the Spurs continue to be the epitome of consistency in all of sports, staying in the #3 hole. In fact, San Antonio has missed the playoffs only one time since 1989, and that one year off year gave them Tim Duncan.

It is hard to believe that the Miami Heat only won 15 games in 2007-08. Dwayne Wade missed much of the season. And the following NBA draft they chose Michael Beasley. Imagine how they would be had they selected Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, or Brook Lopez.

So that's your daily NBA fun fact. Sports are usually cyclical. Especially in the NBA, where the superstars start with terrible teams. The recent new bargaining agreement changes also played a big role. Luck in the draft certainly helps. But seriously, twelve of fourteen teams outside of the playoffs find themselves firmly in the picture five years later! In the sport that is rumored to have the least amount of parity, it may just have the most!