Philadelphia 76ers rivalries would do better without playoff reform

Playoff reform could put one of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ long-standing rivalries in jeopardy.

Julius Erving‘s had enough of Larry Bird. Amid the chaos of coaches and players scrumming on the court, Charles Barkley and Moses Malone hold back Bird’s arms, and Dr. J fires off three quick punches to Bird’s face before being pulled away. In other words: two Hall of Famers restrain a third Hall of Famer so a fourth Hall of Famer can throw haymakers at his unprotected face.

In a 1984 regular season game between the two best teams in the East, the hate between the Sixers and Celtics reached a climax. The modern day equivalent would be Kevin Durant and Draymond Green putting James Harden in a headlock so Steph Curry could get in a cheap shot. I don’t know why this would happen; maybe Harden was making fun of Steph for selling ugly shoes.

If we could take those Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics’ mutual hatred and put it in the age of social media, every matchup would be must-watch. Twitter beef would turn into words on the court. The winning team would get more than a game in the standings; they’d get bragging rights. An NBA regular season game would start to feel more like an Eagles-Cowboys game: exciting regardless of the standings.

The Sixers and Celtics are bound to renew the rivalry

The NBA did nothing to help build rivalries when it changed playoff seeding to no longer guarantee division winners home court in the first round. And now, the league is discussing completely reseeding the playoffs 1-16, regardless of conference.

A lot of people have welcomed this idea, saying it’s more fair to seed teams based solely on record. However, for Sixers fans, playing completely different teams in the playoffs each year would diminish potential rivalries with other Eastern Conference elites.

Looking a few years down the road, two teams seem destined to be Eastern Conference powerhouses. Boston has a young but already successful core in place. Philadelphia has two budding superstars and a team quickly on the rise. The two old rivals are once again primed to become perennial playoff opponents.

As a Philly sports fan, I get excited just thinking about these potential series. There would be trash talk by players on and off the court. There would be trash talk between fans over Twitter (just imagine bringing up Brady’s Super Bowl drop in a basketball argument five years from now). It would be a classic NBA rivalry, and it would be fun.

By ignoring conference in playoff seeding, the Sixers and Celtics would be far less likely to run into each other every year. Sure, there would be perks to this format. Playoff teams not good enough to make the finals would have a chance to face teams from the opposite conference. An imaginary Sixers-Nuggets series could be really intriguing.

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But the best series are the ones played year after year to the point where players and fans hate to lose to the other team. Bulls-Pistons. Pacers-Knicks. Suns-Lakers. Sixers-Celtics. The league should look to foster rivalries instead of passing playoff reform that would preemptively squash them.

Sixers rivalries would do better without playoff reform

By Dan Volpone | Feb 23, 2018

Playoff reform could put one of the Philadelphia 76ers‘ long-standing rivalries in jeopardy.

The Sixers and Celtics are bound to renew the rivalry