Opinion: There are seven dominant teams in the Western Conference

The 2025-26 National Basketball Association began on Tuesday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors being victorious. The Thunder needed double OT to beat the Houston Rockets 125-124, while the Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 119-109.

Over the last couple of decades, the Western Conference has traditionally been better than the Eastern Conference, and this year should be no different. At first glance, there are seven very strong teams in the West, and one must ask again why in the world does the NBA have the silly play-in-tournament that simply rewards mediocrity.

The seven teams that look very strong in the West are the Oklahoma City Thunder (the defending NBA Finals champions), the Houston Rockets (which have added future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant), the Los Angeles Clippers (who are led by Kawhi Leonard and James Harden), the Los Angeles Lakers (who are led by the NBA’s all-time leading scorer LeBron James and Luka Doncic), the Golden State Warriors (who are led by the NBA’s all-time leading three point shooter Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler), the Denver Nuggets (led by Nikola Jokic, the best passing center the NBA has ever seen), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (led by former first overall pick Anthony Edwards, defensive specialist Rudy Gobert, and Julius Randle).

Whenever any of these seven teams play against each other this season it will be a treat. The rest of the Conference will play for the eighth spot and the final two spots in the play-in tournament.