Opinion: Why the play-in tournament has destroyed the 2025-26 NBA season

Wilson Basketball (Google Images)

You may find watching the National Basketball Association very anticlimactic and boring lately. Well, I have news for you. You are not the only one.

The reason is because there is a gigantic gap at the moment between the 10th and 11th place teams in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference. In the East, the 10th place Miami Heat lead the 11th place Milwaukee Bucks by a whopping eight and a half games. Then in the West, the 10th place Golden State Warriors lead the 11th place New Orleans Pelicans by an even more whopping nine and a half games.

If the NBA completely scrapped the play-in tournament, which they should have never had in the first place, there would have been a dramatic playoff race for the eighth and final playoff spot.

In the East, the fifth place Toronto Raptors and the 10th place Heat are separated by two and a half games, with the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets also in the playoff mix. How exciting would it have been to see six teams battling for four spots?

Then in the West, you would have three teams (the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors) battling for one spot as they are only separated by two games.

Now most teams in the top 10 in each conference have something to play for, as they want to avoid the terrible play-in tournament altogether. However, it is more exciting when teams are battling for a playoff spot than avoiding the play-in tournament. That is why games down the stretch in the regular season will be anticlimactic over the next couple of weeks, and I would much prefer watching the 2026 World Snail Championships!