The differences between the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association can be attributed to a number of factors, one of them being the identity of the franchise (remember the Show-time Lakers?) and the philosophy the head coach wants his team to portray.

It has been long believed that the Eastern Conference is the lesser of the two conferences because of the amount of poor teams that inhabit it. That may be unfair, but true. The one team that has shown yearly excellence despite a revolving line-up of players and coaches is the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons have managed to stay ahead of their Eastern neighbors by making savvy trades, good drafts and installing their mindset to their players. Namely, we will play tough defense and create turnovers to score easy points. We will also intimidate you and force you to play your best game against us to win. No exception, the opponent must bring their "A" game each night, and especially when they visit the Palace Of Auburn Hills. Contrastingly, the New York Knickerbockers, once a proud franchise, even as recently as ten years ago, are now a pitiful laughingstock. They make you want to avoid watching them. They are totally dysfunctional and to add to their pain, they make poor decisions on their coaches, players and direction. Perhaps the impression that New York gives off to the fans hurts the creditably of the East. Most other teams in the East are in yearly flux, such as Boston (this year is an exception), Cleveland (a one man team) and other teams such as Indiana, Chicago and New Jersey, who must reload each season to push for the playoffs.

The Western Conference is the one that most fans prefer because it is truly the Wild, Wild West. From new stars rising in Seattle (Kevin Durant), Portland(Greg Oden, Brandon Roy) to established stars in Los Angeles (Kobe Bryant), Phoenix (Steve Nash), Dallas (Dirk Nowitzki), San Antonio (Tim Duncan), the balance of power in the West makes for good basketball each night with up and coming teams in Utah, Golden State and Houston.

The sun may set in the West, but when it does, the stars come out to play and they have been bringing exciting basketball to fans more so than their Eastern Conference neighbors for over twenty five years.

Learn more about this author, Stephan Stavseth.
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