National Basketball Association

NBA could look into getting rid of divisions

Published Dec. 9, 2013 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver says he expects the NBA to consider whether having divisions is still useful, with every team in the Atlantic currently under .500.

Silver said during an interview Monday on the SiriusXM NBA Radio channel that he has discussed ''whether divisions have outlived their usefulness'' and that he believes the competition committee ''will be taking a fresh look at'' the role of divisions when it next meets.

The NBA has six divisions, three in each conference, and the winners are guaranteed no worse than a No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The Boston Celtics would currently be No. 4 as the Atlantic winner, even with a 10-12 record that is only sixth-best in the Eastern Conference and would be 13th, out of the playoffs entirely, in the stronger West.