NBA play-offs test divides the best from the rest

It has been argued the NBA play-offs are too long, too big, too inclusive, simply too unwieldy. But those who make such an argument protest a bit too much. The NBA play-offs are a showcase for basketball. If you like basketball, more of the sport being played should not be a bad thing.

The play-offs will be the chance for Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook, above, and Kevin Durant to prove their bonafides. Danny Moloshok / AP Photo

The NBA play-offs are no joke. Four rounds. Best-of-seven each time. Sixteen teams enter, which is more than half of the league's teams.

In calendar terms, the NBA post-season stretches nearly two months, from April to June.

It has been argued the NBA play-offs are too long, too big, too inclusive, simply too unwieldy. They are, the argument goes, a bit of a slog. But those who make such an argument protest a bit too much.

The NBA play-offs are, first and foremost, a showcase for basketball. If you like basketball, more of the sport being played should not be a bad thing.

Moreover, giving so many teams a place in the play-offs means basketball fans get more of just-below-the-elite players such as Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks, West No 7 seed), Al Jefferson (Charlotte Bobcats, East No 7 seed), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, West No 6 seed) and John Wall (Washington Wizards, East No 6 seed).

If you cannot get behind players like that being given more national (and international) TV exposure, then why are you even watching this sport?

Even putting all that aside, the true success of the NBA play-offs is that – pretty much unique to North American sport – the best team almost always wins.

The league’s champions must pass a gruelling test, and it never stops being satisfying to see superstars, from Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant to LeBron James, rise to this challenge.

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