NBA G-League to introduce new playoff format for 2017-18 season

The NBA G-League is experimenting again. They like doing that kind of stuff there. This time they’re tweaking how the playoffs work.

There’s never a dull moment for the G-League Blue Sky Brainstorming Collective. They say to themselves “I’d like to have an idea right now,” and then they do. The idea is written out piece by piece on a whiteboard in the shape of Adam Silver’s face. Typically the idea is written in English, but sometimes the harsh, guttural noises of German are more appropriate.

The idea stays on the whiteboard for a week. During that week, members of the Collective come by to mock it. People call it names and point derisively. Every once in a while, people will stick post-it notes to the most problematic parts of the ideas with words like “Bad” or “No” or the barfing emoji.

It’s a harrowing time for the idea, but if the idea does not vanish from the whiteboard of its own accord due to embarrassment or anger, The Collective will throw a small party. A candle is lit in a dark room somewhere in Secaucus, and the cake is smashed into the whiteboard around the place where Adam Silver’s mouth would be.

At this point, the idea is allowed to be posted on Howard Beck’s Twitter account.

The form seems like a slightly stripped-down version of the WNBA structure. There are six seeds on each side. The top two seeds in each conference have a bye to the second round. All rounds excluding the finals will be single elimination. The finals will be best-of-three.

There will also be some more refs. Whatever.

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Will this make things better? Could this be a test for the NBA proper? Only time will tell, but we know that the Collective controls time, so we’re really victims to their whims at this point.