If you want proof of the disparity between the Eastern and Western Conferences, simply compare the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. Both employ a super-duper star, an oft-injured sidekick, and a questionable supporting cast. While that formula got the Lakers no farther then the first round of the NBA playoffs out West, in the East it landed the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. And you wonder why Kobe has hinted he would like to be traded to the Bulls.

The decimation of the Eastern Conference has been many years in the making. It actually began during Jordan's 2nd tenure with the Chicago Bulls. Remember, those Bulls teams broke the single season victory total AND nearly tied it the following year, and played a majority of their schedule against Eastern opponents. The Bulls benefited from a watered down conference, who during their second three-peat offered only one competitive series (against the Pacers in 1998, which could be attributed more to the Bulls age then the Pacer's talent) as the Bulls steamrolled to the Finals. Chicago's dominance helped mask the fact that the East was deteriorating from within.

After Jordan's 2nd retirement, it became evident that the talent level in the East was a problem when the New York Knicks became the first number 8 seed EVER to make it to the NBA Finals. Think about that fact for a second. While the Warriors winning this year was a nice story, there was no way they were making it all the way to the Finals, not when a team like the Spurs stood in their way.

Since that Bulls dynasty, we have had only two champions come out of the East in the past 8 years. The question has to be asked is why? Why has the East become so mediocre to its Western counterparts? The answer: Size matters.

It is not a stretch to say that the West has a size advantage compared to the East. The West currently has the best center (Ming), the best power forward (Duncan), the best all-around big (Garnett), the best shooting big (Nowitski), and now the best future big (Oden). And up to a couple of years ago, the West also had the most dominant center (Shaq) and the most versatile forward (Webber), both of whom are now shells of their former selves in the East. Look at any All-Star game over the last couple of years. In those talent showcases the East combats those aforementioned bigs with guys like Vince Carter and Lebron James.

Having a dominant big man makes everything much, much easier for franchises. For GM's, its easier

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