Predictable. Boring. Unwatchable. All of those negative things and more are terms that people have used to describe the NBA this past season, and all of those claims have enough evidence to back them up with since this year’s NBA did, in fact, turn out how most if not all people predicted it would.
But while many people will be quick to blame the lack of a competitive NBA on Kevin Durant for joining the Golden State Warriors this past offseason, here is a list of 5 things that have contributed to the NBA being so predictable that have absolutely nothing to do with Kevin Durant. Don’t think that I’m the only one who thinks this either. Durant himself has made it very clear that he is NOT the one to blame for the NBA being the way it is.
Without further due, here is that list of 5 things.
That’s right, part three, meaning these two teams have met in the NBA Finals the past two seasons as well. Was Kevin Durant playing for the Warriors then? No, he was not. Was the NBA still predictable? Yes, it was.
Over half of the NBA teams make the playoffs. Of course having numerous subpar teams going to the “most competitive” part of the season results in predictability. Even with two conferences having eight teams each in the playoffs, no team lower than a 3-seed has won the NBA championship since 1995. Kevin Durant was 6 years old at the time.
The best college basketball players typically go to the worst NBA teams in the NBA draft. But said best players are typically 18, 19 or 20-year-old kids who are not developed enough to compete with the stars of the league for championships.
Freshmen have been the top pick in the past seven NBA drafts. It’s no wonder bad teams don’t typically experience quick turnarounds. Even the Seattle SuperSonics went 20-62 in the 2007-2008 season when 2nd overall pick Kevin Durant was a rookie after just one season in college. That 20-62 record was 11 games worse than the team’s record the previous season, and it was their worst in franchise history.