Parity in the NBA? Not Really

In the wake of last year's playoffs, there were thoughts that the league office's mechanisms for parity had finally started to kick in. From the salary cap and the luxury tax threshold, to changing the rules to benefit teams without a traditional center, to creating the draft lottery, the NBA has been making an effort to create parity. Last year, for the first time in a number of years a team outside of the usual Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Pistons, Bulls group won the NBA title. As well, the Mavs and Suns, two teams without traditional centers, were two of the best teams in the league.

Upon further analysis, you might find that last year's playoffs weren't really proof of parity after all. Miami did win the title, but they did that mostly because they were able to obtain Shaquille O'neal. And this year, the Spurs and Pistons (two perennial champions) are the favorites to win the entire thing again. If you define parity (as CNBC's Darren Rovell does) as the amount of teams that win a championship a given period of time, it's obvious that there isn't much parity in the NBA.Here's what Darren Rovell had to say on the subject in his CNBC SportsBiz Roundup this week:

Despite the fact that LeBron James has Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals, the lottery apparently isn't doing enough.

Right now, the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons are favorites to be in the Finals. If either of them win, it will mean that only six different teams have won titles over the past 21 seasons. That's right, since the 1986-87 season, only six teams -- the Bulls, Lakers, Spurs, Pistons, Rockets and Heat has won it all.

Compare that to the NHL, which has had 11 champions over that time period, the NFL, which has had 12 champions in that time and Major League Baseball: an amazing 15 different champions, including a new champion in each of the last six years.

Only six winners in 21 seasons would actually be the second worst parity of any league in the modern era -- just behind the NHL from 1967 (you can't really start counting before then) to 1988, when only the Canadiens, Bruins, Flyers, Islanders and Oilers won.

This span of 21 seasons would beat out the span of 1956-1977. That's when the Boston Celtics won an amazing 11 times, but six other teams won championships during that period. It also beats out the period from 1936 to 1956, when the New York Yankees won 13 times. Six other teams won besides the Yankees.

Basically free agency, the lottery, the rule changes, and the salary cap/luxury tax aren't doing enough to create parity in the league. I mean, Shaq and Duncan have won seven of the last possible eight championships.

The Lottery doesn't do a great job of creating parity for a few reasons. First, because it's a lottery, the worst teams don't always get the top picks. As well, not every draft is equally weighted. I mean, there is a big difference between drafting number one overall and selecting Tim Duncan and drafting number one and selecting Kwame Brown. Lastly, not ever GM is as adept at scouting and drafting talent as others. I mean the Spurs haven't been in the lottery since 1997, yet they've still managed to draft better players than the Minnesota T-Wolves.

In terms of free agency, the luxury tax has done a great job to combat teams (every one except New York) from spending outrageous amounts of money, making the salary playing field equal. However, as with the draft, not all GMs are equal when it comes to selecting and playing players appropriately. For instance, Adonal Foyle, a guy that doesn't even play is scheduled to make $9 Million next year, while Leandro Barbosa is scheduled to make around $5.5 Million.

In terms of the rule changes, it's obvious that dominating stars will always shine through no matter what the circumstances. In the 80s, the most dominating players were: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas, and Moses Malone. It's no wonder all of those guys account for all of the championships of that decade. In the 90s, the most dominating forces were Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. Again, there's no question why those players respective teams dominated the decade. The same could be said for this decade with Shaq and Duncan.

Usually, when you are able to acquire an impact player in the class of the guys I mentioned above, it's not that difficult to put your team in a position to win the title. I mean, there aren't too many teams in the league that wouldn't become instant championship contenders if they acquired Tim Duncan. No wonder everyone is so excited about the opportunity to draft Greg Oden.

Previously at Fanhouse:
This Year Could be the End of the Shaq and Duncan Era
Chad Ford: Oden For Sure
The Debriefing: The Envelopes David Stern Should Freeze