We are used to the NBA landscape being what it is. Since 1981, there hasn’t been much in the way of massive conference realignment, but that wasn’t always the case. On this episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast, hosts Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch look at the NBA’s long history of conference realignment.
We look first at teams that have for the most part stayed in their respective conferences including the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and more.
After that, it’s a look at each and every team’s conference realignment throughout history including franchise moves that necessitated the change, the evolving NBA geographical landscape or moves that just made no sense at all.
Highlights include the confusing move of the Baltimore Bullets in the Western Conference until 1966, Houston Rockets becoming an Eastern Conference staple in the 1970s, the hard-luck Milwaukee Bucks seemingly always being in the wrong conference, ABA-NBA merger ramifications and the conference swap that occurred from 1989 through 1992 between the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic.
We also look at how each of the realignments may have had an effect on competitive balance and if the championship and title picture would look different without said realignment.
Next: The NBA’s old man revolution
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