The NBA playoffs “need” the regular season because then the playoffs would become the regular season. A regular talking point in all professional sports leagues when good playoff games happen is “Why do we need the regular season?” The two seasons are completely different entities from one another.
Playoff basketball game plans are different
From Sportico.com, they site the following differences between the playoffs and regular season:
- Pace Slows
- Teams’ shoot more three-point shots
- Teams’ make less three-point shots
- More isolation plays
- More fouling
The NBA has increased overall scoring per game during the regular season in the last ten years by 15 points. Foul attempts have stayed stable overall and pace has increased. From the documentary, “Soul Power,” the NBA struggled for a long time with viewership because the pace was too slow. The ABA’s “Wide open style” made the game better to view.
Draft positioning and awards
As of now, the awards given to players is after the regular season is completed (not the playoffs.) The award for the playoffs is to “make a deep run” and “win a Championship.” Ray Ratto from Defector.com writes that the regular season stinks because of “tanking” and “load management.”
A fan must see the difference between the regular season and post-season because one is able to watch something interesting from October to June (based on team success.) The playoffs are only between 16 to 28 games based on the team. The regular season is 82 games guaranteed.
A Washington Post article from December 2025 shows that players are missing more games due to injury now than in the last ten years. Many theories abound — the pace is faster (leading to more soft tissue injuries), the reduction of preseason games from five to three or players getting injured constantly in the same place (because of constant stress from playing basketball so long.)
Solution?
The solution to all of this is that the NBA needs its top players to become stars. Victor Wembanyama needs to find a way to stay healthy and compose himself to not fall apart from physical defense. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic need to continue battling for MVP honors for the next ten years. Jayson Tatum needs to stay healthy and challenge the above players for MVP honors and Championships.
The post NBA playoffs “need” the regular season appeared first on thePeachBasket.