Parity in the NBA is better than ever

And it's good for the sport

Few would argue that we have more parity in the nba than almost ever before…but how did we get here?  Many would point to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and for good reason.  

The CBA has made it harder and harder for rich teams to overspend their way into championships.  Despite not having a hard salary cap, the 1st tax apron and  the 2nd tax apron (extremely harsh)  make it significantly more expensive for teams over the limit, and incurring the repeater tax (for teams over the limit in 3 out of the last 4 seasons) can result in the loss of draft picks or moving to the back of the line in draft order.

The CBA has succeeded in spreading talent (and wealth) around the league and also empowered players to earn more money in a variety of ways including licensing, endorsements and an expanded share of all BRI (basketball related income)..  When players (and teams) make more money in general, competition rises.  

The NBA is known to have the least amount of parity compared to the NFL and the MLB.  Historically a smaller number of players and teams have dominated competition since the inception of the league with a larger percentage of teams that have never won a championship.  The NFL is the most popular sport in America and could be seen as a model for the NBA.  Despite this overall history, we have had 5 different champions in the last five years for the first time since 1971-1975  

The Last 5 NBA Champions include two first timers (2023-Nuggets and 2019 Raptors…and the Bucks-2021 who won just their second ring (the last time was 1971).  We are still just coming out of the ‘superteam’ era.  Golden State won 4 times in 8 years.  Before that we had the Lebron era (won 4 times on 3 teams) and dynasty teams like Kobe’s Lakers and Jordan’s Bulls…with a handful of Spurs chips.  

These days, the league seems more competitive than ever.  The 1st place Minnesota Timberwolves finished last season in 8th place and last year’s 2nd seed Grizzlies are now in 13th place.  There is also an increasingly difficult window for teams to create championship teams, with more teams having a legitimate shot at contention and for teams that do win, it is getting harder and harder to keep those rosters together.  Because of the repeater tax, Golden State lost much of their bench and has been having to make difficult decisions about their main pieces and who they can pay.

Even for teams that go all in repeatedly (the Clippers for ex.), there is no easy path to a ring.  There are other super teams to contend with like the Suns (Durant, Booker, Beal) and the Bucks (Giannis and Lillard) as well last year’s championship Nuggets, the Celtics and Sixers in the East and upstarts like Minnesota and Oklahoma City (vying for 1st in the West).

On the other side there are increased incentives for all teams (and players) to want to compete (the semi-new play-in tournament and the brand new in-season tournament) as well as deterrents to tanking (reduced draft odds for bottom ranking teams) and cheap owners/cities like the ‘salary floor’ (teams must spend at least 90% of the salary cap or face penalties)

As the money and talent are spread around there is an increasing importance on not just players…but on the value of contracts.  Players seen as possible pieces for contending teams more and more, have to be not just good…but on good contracts.  Trades and how they can be made have been facilitated for teams who don’t overspend and made more difficult for teams that do. This includes salary matching considerations, access to the buyout market and the ability to offer cash as part of a deal.  All of this has led to the increased importance of the draft and a recent theme around the NBA of trades almost always involving the inclusion of 1st round draft picks.

Like many people I consider the new landscape of the NBA to be refreshing and the CBA to be a success overall.  That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its critics...from people who say it will be less effective long term (the current CBA runs till basically the end of the decade…when perennial increases to the salary cap will mean more flexibility for larger/bigger spending teams) to those who really hate specific features (like the 65 regular season game minimum for post season awards qualification) or fears about being able to retain players that teams do successfully draft and develop, long term.

In general though this feels like one of the most exciting periods ever to watch basketball.  In recent years, no team ever feels like a lock and exciting changes year to year in pole position should give fans of almost any team the hope and belief that…anything can happen