Adam Silver The Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals ended up drawing more viewers than the Mavs-Celtics series the year before and the reason was because the competition was better

Brad Stevens today - There were a lot of teams in the NBA playing for draft positioning this year And that won't be the case next year The league is gonna be a lot better the regular seasons gonna be a lot harder

SiriusXM NBA Radio If it were the other way around I think Jayson Tatum and the Celtics would've been first in the East and I think they would've made it out that game 7 - Evan Turner on how the Celtics wouldve looked with Jayson Tatum leading instead of Jaylen Brown

Footage from 2009 Western Conference Finals highlighting the physical skills and competitive spirit of past playoff basketball in the NBA

Adam Silver In terms of tanking theres no question that what we saw this season was unprecedented Fans in particular cities and even media were rooting for their teams to tank We had to respond not just to the narrative but to misalignment of incentives once it was an accepted practice

NBA on Prime Its win or go home Its Game 7 Common sets the scene for Cavs vs Pistons on NBA on Prime

Tim Connelly on San Antonio and Oklahoma City changing the equation for what winning the Western Conference looks like going forwardI think the equation changes when you see the two teams playing in the Western Conference right now and how good they are We got smacked by Oklahoma City last year