Brad Botkin

In 2015， the NBA made a relatively quiet change to its playoff structure， eliminating the automatic top-four seed for all division winners. The logic was， and remains， as sound as it is simple： Rewarding a lesser team for playing in a weaker division makes no sense. Why would rewarding a team from a lesser conference， or penalizing a team from a tougher conference for that matter， be any different？

2015年，NBA對季后賽賽制進行了一次微小的調整，取消了各賽區(qū)第一自動進入東西部前四的規(guī)定。背后的邏輯扎實又簡單：給在一個弱小賽區(qū)的較差球隊好處沒有道理可言。在這個問題上，回饋較差分區(qū)實力較弱的球隊和懲罰較強分區(qū)更強的球隊，究竟有什么區(qū)別？

The idea of going to a straight 1-16 playoff seeding， regardless of conference， has been a hotbutton topic among new-age fans for a while， if a back-burner one for the league. But its moving to the forefront. Commissioner Adam Silver has addressed the possibility with increasing regularity， and urgency， of late. On Saturday， the Celtics and the Rockets gave us a thrilling glimpse into what a wide-open playoff bracket could look like with arguably the best game of the season.

即便聯盟不重視，但無視東西部分區(qū)，直接按1到16號種子排名進行季后賽，已經是新一代球迷熱議的話題。現在，這個話題終于走到了前臺。總裁亞當·蕭華最近強調了提高規(guī)范和緊迫性的可能。周六，凱爾特人和火箭用一場堪稱賽季最佳的比賽，讓我們初窺開放型季后賽的魅力。

"Ive been saying this for like 10 years， man，" two-time NBA champion and current TNT analyst Kenny Smith told CBS Sports at All-Star weekend. "NBA fans dont care [about conferences]. They want to see the best two teams playing in the Finals."

“老兄，10年了我一直這么說。”兩屆NBA總冠軍，目前在TNT擔任解說的肯尼·史密斯全明星周末期間接受CBS體育采訪時表示，“NBA球迷不在乎（分區(qū)），他們想看到最好的兩支球隊打總決賽?！?/p>

You cant argue this. There isnt a basketball fan on earth that doesnt want to see the best two teams going at it for the title. Thats the purest part of sports. Now， you could say that in Cleveland and Golden State， weve gotten the best two teams in the Finals the last three years. You could even argue this is the case most years. What you cant argue is that the respective playoff roads traveled to get to that point have been anywhere near equal for close to 20 years.

這話沒錯。地球上還沒有哪個球迷不愿意看到最好的兩支球隊爭奪總冠軍，那是體育最純粹的部分。這種說法放在騎士和勇士身上是沒錯的，過去三年，我們看到了兩支最優(yōu)秀的球隊在總決賽里競爭。你甚至可以說，大部分時候總決賽里都是兩支最好的球隊。但過去20年里，你不能說兩支球隊的總決賽之路難度是平等的。

With few exceptions， the West has been the collectively superior conference dating back as far as some of these young fans have been alive. Remember that 73-win Warriors team that lost in the Finals in 2016？ It had to go through a seven-game basketball war with Oklahoma City in the conference finals. If the Thunder， who had a 3-1 series lead if you recall， wouldve gotten past the Warriors， that wouldve been even more egregious.

除了少數例外，從一些年輕球迷出生時起，西部球隊的實力一直更為出眾。還記得輸掉2016年總決賽的73勝勇士嗎？他們先是在西部決賽里七場大戰(zhàn)突破了雷霆。如果你還記得，當時3比1領先的雷霆如果能擊敗勇士，那他們晉級總決賽所面臨的難度相比較是更大的。

Meanwhile， the Cavs are a combined 36-5 in the Eastern Conference playoffs over the last three years. Not one team has posed an even halfway realistic threat to them. Naturally， LeBron James， who has reached seven straight Finals by way of the lesser conference， likes things the way they are.

與此同時，騎士過去三年在東部季后賽的總戰(zhàn)績?yōu)?6勝5負，沒有一支球隊能夠真正給他們帶來威脅。自然而然，在較弱分區(qū)連續(xù)七年打進總決賽的勒布朗·詹姆斯希望保持現狀。

Commissioner Adam Silver recently floated a proposal where the 16 teams would be seeded regardless of their conference.

聯盟總裁亞當·蕭華最近提出建議，拋開分區(qū)限制，16支球隊直接排名。

James disagrees with the concept， mostly because it "changes the landscape of the history of the game." The three-time champion， who has played in seven straight Finals， noted that there have been junctures where one conference has dominated， but in the long run there has been balance.

"Its cool to mess around with the All-Star Game， we proved you can do that，" said James， who picked an All-Star team this year under a new format. "But lets not get too crazy about the playoffs.”

詹姆斯不同意這個概念，很大程度上因為“這改變了比賽的歷史狀態(tài)”。三屆總冠軍，連續(xù)七次打進總決賽的詹姆斯提出，盡管某些分區(qū)實力更強，但從長遠看，東西部實力是均衡的?！叭餍亲鲎稣{整沒問題，我們證明了你們可以這么做。”詹姆斯說，按照今年的新規(guī)則，他得以挑選隊友，“但在季后賽的問題上就別這么瘋狂了。”

Again， its pretty convenient that James feels this way. Admitting there needs to be change would be an indictment on his reaching those seven straight Finals. Thats not a knock on LeBron， who in my opinion is the best player in history. Its just reality. There is no chance he goes to seven straight Finals in the West. Zero. Meanwhile， Chris Paul has been getting killed for years for never having made a conference finals appearance in his career. How many times would those Clippers teams have gone to the conference finals in the East？ Im guessing a few， at least.

再次強調，詹姆斯有這種想法很省事。承認有改變的需要，就是對自己連續(xù)七年打進總決賽的貶損。這不是貶低詹姆斯，在我看來他是歷史上最優(yōu)秀的球員。但這就是現實。如果在西部，他不可能連續(xù)七年進入總決賽。毫無機會！而克里斯·保羅卻因為職業(yè)生涯未能進入分區(qū)決賽而飽受批評。如果在東部，快船能打進幾次分區(qū)決賽？我猜至少能有幾次吧。

Theres that buzz word： Cyclical.

一個被經常提到的詞就是：循環(huán)性。

Indeed， people are quick to point out the cyclical thing， saying itll eventually turn around and the East will be the better conference. But I have to ask： what difference would that make？ Dont you then just have the same problem only the reverse？ The point is the pendulum almost never balances right in the middle. Change the playoffs to a straight 1-16 format， and you dont ever have to worry about this again.

人們確實會迅速指出循環(huán)性，比如說局勢終究會轉變，東部會成為更好的分區(qū)。但我要問了：這又有什么區(qū)別呢？那時候難道不是問題反過來再次出現嗎？問題在于，鐘擺幾乎不會停留在中間。把季后賽改成1到16名球隊直接對戰(zhàn)，你就無需再考慮這些問題。

Another thing people love to say would be compromised with the elimination of conferences are these "rivalries." For starers， eliminating conferences wouldnt eliminate regional rivalries. The possibility to Philly matching up with Boston， for instance， is still in play. Besides that， arent we overplaying this rivalry thing？

另一個人們喜歡提出的問題是，取消分區(qū)會威脅“宿敵”的存在。首先，取消分區(qū)并不會讓區(qū)域間的宿敵消失。比如76人與凱爾特人仍然可能相遇。此外，我們是否過于看重宿敵這個問題了？

Fact is， the numbers dont lie. Per the NBA， three of the six highest-rated games this year have been inter-conference matchups -- two Cavs-Warriors matchups， which brought in just under 15 million combined viewers， and Boston vs. Golden State on Jan. 27， which brought in close to five million.

事實是，數字不會說謊。根據NBA的數據，今年收視率最高的六場比賽中，有三場是跨分區(qū)比賽：兩場騎士與勇士的比賽吸引了接近1500萬觀眾，而1月27日凱爾特人與勇士的比賽總收視人數也接近500萬。

Ive said in the past， the obstacle is travel. Its that as weve added an extra week to the regular season， as weve tried to reduce the number of back-to-backs， that we are concerned about teams crisscrossing the country in the first round， for example. We are just concerned about the overall travel that we would have in the top 16 teams.

過去我曾說，旅行是障礙所在。為此，常規(guī)賽時間現在延長了一周，而且盡量減少了背靠背比賽?，F在我們開始擔心出現球隊在季后賽首輪就要橫跨全美這種情況，擔心16強的整體旅行距離。

Again， this is understandable. Thats a lot of time in an airplane at the end of an already exhausting NBA season. That said， as Kenny Smith pointed out， "this whole thing started back when there were no chartered flights." Indeed， these days teams arent exactly slumming it through hour-long security lines and squeezing into economy class.

再次強調，這是可以理解的。常規(guī)賽本就讓人精疲力盡了，這意味著又要坐很久的飛機。但正如肯尼·史密斯所說，“聯盟最初是沒有專機的?！爆F在的球隊無需在安檢區(qū)排上幾小時隊再擠進經濟艙。

"Listen， making things easy for these guys， Im not a big proponent of，" Charles Barkley said at All-Star weekend. "If Bill Russell and Dr. J and those guys can play three games in three nights in the worst tennis shoes ever invented， and fly commercial， or ride a bus， I think these guys can be inconvenienced a couple days a year to make $30 million and ride on a private jet.”

“聽著，很多事已經輕松很多了。我不是很支持（長距離這個觀點）?！辈闋査埂ぐ涂怂乖谌餍侵苣┢陂g表示，“如果比爾·拉塞爾，J博士和其他人，他可以穿著最爛的網球鞋，坐經濟艙或者坐大巴，連續(xù)三天打三場比賽。我覺得這些人為了掙3000萬美元，坐私人飛機，他們一年可以不方便個幾天?！?/p>

There are a lot of people who work for a living who would side with Barkley here， but heres the thing： There is a pretty easy way to solve this. You just go back to a 2-3-2 series format rather than the 2-2-1-1-1 format in place today. This would mean a series could only switch venues three times at most， whereas under the current format， if a series goes the full seven games， it will switch venues five times.

很多工薪族會支持巴克利的觀點，但這里有一個問題：解決這個問題的方法很簡單，回復2-3-2賽制，取消現在的2-2-1-1-1賽制。這意味著一個系列賽最多只會更換三次場地，按照現行賽制，如果系列賽打到七場，比賽舉辦地將會更換五次。

What does that look like from a milestraveled standpoint？ Under the current format， a Portland-Memphis series would represent the most potential miles traveled. If that series went seven， the lower-seeded team would travel 11，220 miles. Now， if you eliminate conferences， the most extreme matchup from a miles-traveled standpoint would be Portland vs. Miami. If you played that series under a 2-3-2 format， and it went seven games， the lower-seeded team would travel 9，765 miles.

旅行距離上該如何理解？按照現行賽制，開拓者和灰熊的對陣意味著最長旅行距離。如果雙方系列賽打到第七場，排名較低球隊的旅行距離將達到11220英里。如果取消分區(qū)，那么最極端的旅行距離將出現在開拓者和熱火之間。如果按照2-3-2賽制，那么排名較低球隊即便打滿七場，旅行距離也只有9765英里。

In other words， the NBA could seed the playoffs 1-16， and with a simple tweak to the individual series format， actually REDUCE the amount of travel required of teams.

換句話說，按照戰(zhàn)績1到16排名，對系列賽賽制做出小調整，實際上能減少球隊的旅行距離。

The travel problem is real.

旅行的問題真實存在。

But it can be solved.

但完全可以解決。

So， will this actually happen？

所以說，這會真的發(fā)生嗎？

In short， yes. It might take a while， but theres too much momentum starting to gather behind the idea. Opening up the possibility for fresh， new matchups throughout every round of the playoffs， in addition to paving the way for the ultimate goal of pitting the two best teams against one another for the title， is too potentially fruitful to turn away. Plus， its just the right thing to do from a competitive balance standpoint.

簡單地說，會。這可能需要一段時間，但這個想法背后有太多的動力，值得我們去嘗試。每一輪季后賽開啟全新的對陣，加上能夠讓兩支最好的球隊會師總決賽，這個結果美好得讓人無法拒絕。此外，從競爭平衡角度說，這也是該做的事。

OPENING UP THE POSSIBILITY FOR FRESH， NEW MATCHUPS THROUGHOUT EVERY ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS， IN ADDITION TO PAVING THE WAY FOR THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF PITTING THE TWO BEST TEAMS AGAINST ONE ANOTHER FOR THE TITLE， IS TOO POTENTIALLY FRUITFUL TO TURN AWAY. PLUS， ITS JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO FROM A COMPETITIVE BALANCE STANDPOINT.

每一輪季后賽開啟全新的對陣，加上能夠讓兩支最好的球隊會師總決賽，這個結果美好得讓人無法拒絕。此外，從競爭平衡角度說，這也是該做的事。

Now， we have to point out that to make this thing completely equitable， you cant just change the playoff structure； you have to change the regular-season schedule， too. Right now， teams play three or four games against each team in their own conference， and two games against the opposite. The Timberwolves， for instance， have to play the Warriors and Rockets a combined seven times this year. The Cavs only have to play them four. Its not exactly fair to seed teams 1-16 when half those teams had a considerably easier path to earning those seeds.

需要指出的是，想真正公平，需要改變的不止是季后賽結構，常規(guī)賽賽制也需要改變。目前，球隊與同一賽區(qū)的球隊一賽季交手三到四次，與另一分區(qū)的球隊交手兩次。比如森林狼，本賽季需要和勇士及火箭交手七次，而騎士和這兩支球隊只需要交手四次。對于1到16號種子，這不算公平，畢竟有半數球隊贏得排位時的難度比另外一半要小。

Of the four major American sports， the NBA is by far the most progressive league. It has changed its lottery structure to de-incetivize tanking. It changed its All-Star Game selection process and removed conference affiliation because the whole thing had turned into a circus. As mentioned earlier， it stopped the practice of rewarding teams with automatic home-court advantage in the playoffs for winning weaker divisions.

北美四大體育聯盟中，NBA到目前為止是最為開明的。他們?yōu)榱藴p少擺爛現象而改變了樂透規(guī)則。因為全明星已經變得像馬戲團一樣可笑，他們改變了選拔機制，取消了分區(qū)制度。前文也提過，他們取消了較弱賽區(qū)頭名自動獲得季后賽主場優(yōu)勢的獎勵。

Its going to change.

事情一定會改變。

And it cant happen soon enough.

再早也不嫌早。