It seems like a lot of fans like to use the 4-6 argument for Lebron or Finals losses affect a player’s legacy negatively more than early round losses. Why don’t we celebrate winning the East/West pennant more often? It’s almost as if making the Finals is as useful as making the playoffs and getting knocked out in the first round.
Yet in the MLB making the World Series is a BIG deal even if you get swept and blown out each game. It’s considered so prestigious that we always say AL or NL pennant. Why don’t NBA ever get to the same prestige level on winning the pennant as MLB?
The significance could increase as the talent continues to spread out. Its hard to get excited about conference champ and playoff rivalries when its the same 4 teams every year.
Im hoping some of the current NBA/NCAA patterns continue and become trends. When you start to have playoffs where bottom seeds have a realistic chance of beating top seeds, where every game is a hyper-competitive grind and actually matters, then the importance of making it to certain levels of success within those tournys will be acknowledged, accepted, and way more appreciated.