NBA Rumors: Jeff Van Gundy thinks Eastern Conference is worse on purpose
By Josh Hill
One of the hottest debates i the NBA is the subject of teams tanking in order to get a better draft pick in any given year. We’ve seen over the course of NBA history that sometimes when a team tanks, it lands them guys like Derrick Rose, Tim Duncan and LeBron James. But tanking has as many negative effects as it does potential positives ones, and NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy is not a fan of the method.
The Eastern Conference is absolutely terrible this year and hasn’t been as dominant as the west in years. Van Gundy believes this is because a majority of the conference is tanking, something the says is hurting the game.
"“It doesn’t necessarily mean the guys on the floor aren’t trying hard, but it means teams have put some really bad rosters on the floor … I’ve never seen the discrepancy (in talent) like it is in the East,” Van Gundy said. “It’s as bad as it gets.”"
The playing field is far from level thanks to tanking, which has become so accepted that Chad Ford even has a ‘Tank Rank’ to counter his weekly power rankings in the NBA. Van Gundy isn’t wrong in saying it hurts the game, but it’s not likely to change anytime soon.