These are the NBA Playoffs We’ve Been Waiting For…

After years of predictable NBA Finals, fans finally have a wide-open postseason.

FAIRFAX, Va — When LeBron went back to Cleveland, it essentially put the Eastern Conference Playoffs on hold for half a decade. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors were coming together as an unstoppable unit in the Bay, resulting in the same fate for the entire Western Conference.

Four years in a row, Cleveland and Golden State started the regular season as heavy favorites, and each year, it came to fruition.

You know these things, of course, but we’ve finally gotten past it; I think I speak for everyone (outside of LeBron stans) when I say that I’m relieved.

What makes the NCAA Tournament great is that it’s undecided from the start. There may be a handful of teams expected to win, but then Auburn or Texas Tech pops up out of nowhere to keep things interesting.

This year, in these NBA Playoffs, we have something similar…and it’s awesome.

Out of the East, there are four teams with a legit chance to make the NBA Finals (or four times as many as we saw in LeBron’s second Cleveland era). Then there are the Brooklyns and Orlandos of the world, playing unique styles and attempting to become NBA Cinderella stories.

Even if Golden State makes another run to the NBA Finals, we’ll at least have one conference with a wide-open result.

But the Dubs aren’t a guarantee either, or as guaranteed as they’ve been since their initial rise. You’ve got Houston looking as dominant as ever, an air-tight Nuggets team that plays legit defense and two teams in Portland and Oklahoma City that have point guards itching to prove their postseason worth. Do I think Golden State will rep the West in the finals? Probably, but they won’t be sweeping everyone in sight like they once did. The Clippers, who don’t even have a bankable star, already took one off them in the first round.

At one point, a LeBron-less postseason would have been a tragedy: casual fans wouldn’t watch, there wouldn’t be enough star power, and so on. That’s not the case in 2019, though. It’s almost like the big tree got out of the way to let the little guys get some air.

Through one week of postseason action, there’s been no shortage of compelling storylines, games, and matchups. The Philadelphia-Brooklyn series, in my opinion, symbolizes the exact change I’m talking about. New stars are getting the spotlight, allowing for new themes, quotes, etc., and it all stems from the actual competition on the court, which is television gold. Both squads play an exciting style that translates to viewers and they play hard all the time.

Philly will likely win in the long run but this series (as well as Portland-OKC) is proving there’s room for new rivalries and a future not so reliant on LeBron James.