people still running with 'the east is weak' narrative i see, smh....not only that, i see the 'credit bron for super teams' narrative is just as alive/strong lol.....anyway, the east isnt 'weak', bron just runs it cause he's just that good of a player, which does cause ripple effects:
1. as much as teams say they 'want to win', you have to remember they are a business....making money is the ultimate goal for a lot of teams...a lot of teams are satisfied with putting out a team with the intention of not competing for a ship, but just good enough to say they tried, keep people in the seats, and make money....
2. for the teams that try to win, they have to figure out how to get enough talent on their team to offset the generational talent that is bron....as much as people like to say he creates super teams, the only common factor on those teams is him....he is what makes the team a 'super team'....you take him off, and those teams wouldnt compete for a ship....we saw it in cle when he left, saw it in mia when he left, and see it when he doesnt play in games with cle now....once he gets some talent around him, he is the extra that takes them over the top and makes them 'super'....
3. the west being perceived as having more talent(which can be argued for) is cause players run to the west to get away from him...it looks better to fans/the media for players to advance as far as possible, and if they lose, to lose in the supposedly stacked conference; rather than to only advance and lose to the same player year in/out.....the same shyt happened with mj/bulls....today's players dont wanna be like ewing/knicks & reggie/pacers were to mj/bulls: knowing you were only advancing to get to him, not the finals, just to him/bulls....so they'd rather head west like barkley, shaq, etc....seriously, it's not a coincidence the west started getting stronger/more talent in the 90s while the bulls were running shyt....the continuation of that has been cause of bron....players were starting to leave the west cause of the lakers/spurs, but once bron started showing and proving he might live up to the hype, they said 'fukk that, we'll stay our asses out west'....
4. going off the last point: more talent doesnt mean the west is that much stronger than the east...most of the talent is on a couple teams with a player here/there by himself on a team...so there are a couple really good teams, some bad teams, and the rest are avg.....just like the east....in fact, the east probably has more avg teams while the west has more bad teams....but people ignore those bad teams in the west cause of the really good teams...they use the warriors/spurs and project like the whole conference is like that, when it's not.....
5. as for super teams: the narrative is bullshyt.....the only people that have problems with them are fans of opposing teams....if you trying to win, you want a 'super' team....just like the lakers & celtics in the 80s, bulls in the 90s, lakers & spurs in 00s......but just cause bron on a team doesnt make it super....the heat werent super without him, and this cavs team isnt super without him.....if you think so, just shows that you're acknowledging the talent bron is.....
it'd be one sideded beat downs for the past 6 years
Young sir you won the thread.
