National Basketball Association

The East Needs Some Love

Updated Jul. 8, 2021 6:01 p.m. ET

By Martin Rogers

The NBA’s Eastern Conference has a lot of things going for it, including - but not restricted to - being able to boast the reigning league champion, the presumptive back-to-back MVP, the team with the best record and a trove of appetizing first round playoff encounters.

And yet, as the playoffs begin in earnest from the Orlando bubble that the NBA has ensconced itself in, the Eastern elites find themselves overlooked and comparatively ignored compared to their colleagues from the other side of the country.

It is both wholly unfair and entirely understandable. Basketball is not just a superstar-driven sport, but one in which there are levels of stardom within the stardom. The biggest names in the game have personalities so large, and followings so great, that it leaves little room for much else.

So while Giannis Antetokounmpo will likely earn the top individual honor in the NBA once more, LeBron James’ exploits are going to generate more column inches. And, during the first round of the playoffs at least, occupy more of the VIP airtime.

Even the most casual glance at the schedule for the opening phase of the postseason reveals a glaringly lopsided skew in one direction. When it comes to the primetime marquee slot of 9 p.m. ET (or occasionally 8.30 p.m), you can forget about seeing Antetokounmpo, or Pascal Siakam, or Jayson Tatum, or Joel Embiid.

Games are set through the next eight days, with tipoff times allocated for the first four matchups in each first round series. Additional timings will later be revealed for Games 5-7, if necessary, depending on which matchups are still going.

From today through next Monday, each of the eight primetime late slots go to Western Conference clashes, with four of them handed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ juicy showdown against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Los Angeles Clippers - taking on the Dallas Mavericks - grab three more, with the Denver Nuggets/Utah Jazz series gets that billing for Game 4 on Sunday night.

By comparison, when it comes to the earliest time slot (usually 1 p.m. ET), which is likely to have the lowest potential audience, teams from the East will be playing on seven of the eight days.

The Milwaukee Bucks, who own the NBA’s best record at 56-17, will take that position three times in their head-to-head series with the Orlando Magic.

"I feel like my whole career, even this year, as good as we have been, they haven’t been paying a lot of attention to us," Antetokounmpo told reporters. "We have the focus to win, even though they don’t talk about us."

It is hard to overcome the star power of James, whose search for a fourth title while being hungrily hunted by the cross-town Clippers is the overwhelming storyline of the resumption of NBA play.

"It simply confirms the suspicion that even if Giannis takes the top individual honors once again, LeBron will keep a grip on the people’s MVP - Most Valuable Primetime," wrote NBA.com’s Shaun Powell.

There are also a few things at play that have conspired to make the East seem less enticing. For a start, not only are the James-Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard-Paul George tandems imposing and unmissable, they both hail from a huge media city.

The Bucks are a small market force, while defending champion Toronto is the league’s only non-US team.

Then, when things got back underway, there was little reason to pay much attention to the East. The battle for the final playoff spots only became relevant in the West, as the Memphis Grizzlies slipped away, Portland surged, and the Phoenix Suns, led by Devin Booker, put together a remarkable streak to nearly force their way into the field.

On the other side, only the Washington Wizards had an opportunity to crash the party, and soon made it clear they were not going to be good enough to do so.

"I hate to say it, but I’ve hardly noticed the East so far," Boston Celtics fan Joe Thomas told me. "I watch the Celtics games, but almost every other game I've watched has been from the Western Conference. With the scheduling of the playoff games, I can’t see that changing."

It is all a little unfortunate because the Eastern Conference, especially now that the playoffs are here, offers some genuinely appealing entertainment. It is entirely possible that their opening round games turn out to be far more enjoyable than those on the other side, especially if the Lakers can bump out into an early lead against Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.

In particular, the series between the Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers has some historical animosity and some very present intrigue attached.

The Raptors have been in sparkling form and have not missed a beat, while Jimmy Butler has ignited the Miami Heat, who should not be ignored among all this.

Butler’s snarling rivalry with T.J. Warren sets the tone for some drama as the Heat take on the Indiana Pacers. And Butler has also launched a booming bubble coffee business, offering an array of selections from his personal French press for the outrageous price of $20, while claiming that the products are even better than advertised.

The same perhaps, could be said of the conference he is playing in.