NBA Injury Strategy & Playoff Seeding Reform Ideas

Segment Spotlight: Quick Hits From Game Time Decisions

Managing Embiid’s Health and Making NBA Playoff Seeding Matter

For injury-prone NBA players such as Embiid, one strategy would be to keep them out until early February rather than risk a season-ending injury. Philadelphia appears capable of securing a top-four seed without him, allowing Embiid to return for the stretch run and postseason.

Although unusual, the strategy is not unprecedented in professional sports. Roger Clemens did something similar near the end of his baseball career, returning during the season to pitch for Houston or New York and pursue a championship. Ndamukong Suh was also cited as an NFL player who would sit out part of the season before joining a team.

Philadelphia looks dominant enough to continue winning without Embiid. Given the team’s strength, playing him now could create more risk than reward. LeBron was also praised for intelligently choosing the right team and knowing exactly what he was doing.

The NBA’s larger problem is that players do not care enough about regular-season seeding. A sixth seed facing a third seed may not see a meaningful disadvantage, so the league needs to reward the top four seeds while making the path significantly harder for the lower four.

One option would be to change the home-court format in a seven-game series. Instead of a 4-3 split, the higher seed could receive five or even six home games. Another possibility would require the higher seed to win only three games while the lower seed still needs four. These ideas may be unlikely, but they would make finishing among the top four more valuable.

The NBA could also follow the NFL and Major League Baseball by giving the top one or two teams in each conference a first-round bye. That might require adding more teams to the postseason, further increasing the number of teams that qualify regardless of their regular-season performance.

With so few teams missing the postseason picture, a team has to be especially poor to have no chance. The play-in has given more fan bases hope, and some teams have advanced from it and performed well, even if they have not gone on to win championships. Ultimately, the play-in also provides another avenue for the league to make money.