For a long time, especially in the last decade, the power distribution between the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference has been lopsided. While big market teams in the West like, the Lakers, Houston, and Golden State keep attracting free agent signings, the East has mostly restricted itself to homegrown talents carrying teams to the occasional Championship. But now, with the Celtics winning the 2024 Championship and the Knicks putting up a historic performance in this post-season, Kevin Garnett thinks the East is back in the competition.
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However, Paul Pierce disagrees.
During a recent appearance on their Podcast ‘Ticket & The Truth,’ Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce touched on the East-West power dynamics in the NBA, even answering the pressing question of the Eastern Conference’s current relevancy. “Is the Eastern Conference back, P?…Hell yeah,” KG said,
But Pierce disagreed with the sentiment, adding that,
“All the star power is still in the West. Star Power. You still got LeBron, Curry, K.D. Then you look at, you got Ja, Zion, Luka, Ant-Man…Joker. Then you got the young stars in Sacramento. Then you got these young stars in Houston coming up…the star power is still in the West.”
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Garnett didn’t seem to enjoy his running mate’s answer as the former Celtics forward brought up Jalen Brunson’s magnificent run last year. Paul Pierce, on the other hand, didn’t think Brunson had achieved superstar status yet.
To further his point, The Truth pointed out how leaving the Celtics there are no other teams in the East that can contend for a championship. On the flipside, the Western Conference has over 5 teams that could push for a championship run, a testament to just how stacked and competitive the West is.
Not only that but Pierce also correctly highlighted how last season, the 5th-seeded Dallas Mavericks beat out the entire Conference to make the Finals, a situation no one saw coming as the Mavericks didn’t even make the post-season a year prior.
In other words, it’s hard to predict if the power dynamics between the East and the West will balance itself out. But the Celtics’ run in the East playoffs last year show that the competition is still lacking. However, the return of a healthy Milwaukee Bucks squad could somewhat balance the scales between the two Conferences.
