Western Conference Still Elite

It has been said around the NBA and media in recent history that the Western Conference is better then the Eastern Conference. Although the East has gotten better, the West has kept this true. The Western Conference is better based on record, team play, and head to head in the NBA Finals.

If you take a look at the final standings of the 2009-2010 season, the records speak for themselves. The East did have the best record in the league with the Cleveland Cavaliers at 61-21, but after that the West dominates. Every single team that made the playoffs for the West last season had 50 wins last season. Only the top four teams in the East did that. In those playoffs the Lakers and Thunder played in the first round. The Thunder were the youngest team in the league last season, and brought the Lakers all the way to a game six. It shows that the eighth best team in the West competes with the Lakers, who would ultimatly end up winning the NBA Championship. The four lower seeds for the East did not compete well at all with the top four in the conference.

The Eastern Conference arguably has two of the top three players in the game today in, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade. They do not however have the better team play. With Lebron James, the Cavaliers were the best team in the league record wise, but got an early exit when they lost in the Celtics in the second round. The same goes for Wade as the Miami Heat lost in the first round. The other player of the top three in the league is Kobe Bryant. He took the Lakers to the NBA Finals and actually did not perform well in the pivitol game seven. Bryant ended up shooting only 6-24 from the field. The difference, which gave the Lakers the title, was the play of his supporting cast. Ron Artest ended up scoring 20 points, and Pau Gasol chimed in with 19 to go along with 18 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers team won the NBA Championship, not just Kobe Bryant.

When it comes to the NBA Finals there is no question where dominance lies. Since 1999 the Eastern Conference has only won the championship three times. The San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers have won the other nine. The Eastern Conference has improved as the years have gone on, but the West is where the best is.