NBA Division Winners Will No Longer Be Guaranteed a Top 4 Seed in the Playoffs

Adam Silver did it again: changing the world for the better, one NBA ruling a time.

After years of fans/coaches/players/everyone on Earth complaining about a playoff seeding system which many argued “unfairly rewarded” division winners — guaranteeing them a Top 4 seed, regardless of their record — the NBA has officially dumped the system, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, and will now seed teams 1-8 in each conference based on the team’s record … regardless of who wins the division.

Here is the statement that was released by the NBA’s Board of Governors this evening:

This will go into effect immediately, starting with the 2015-2016 season.

P.S. The next topic on the docket for Commissioner Silver and the Board of Governors (should be): getting rid of conference brackets (East Top 8, West Top 8) and changing the playoff qualification process to: the best 16 teams get in, regardless of conference affiliation. However, this won’t be a unanimous decision like today — as I can name a wholllleeee bunch of teams in the East that are going to object.