The debate of when the best time of the year is in the sports calendar is a hotly debated one, but most, especially those that like either/both basketball or/and hockey seem to agree the period of April - June when both hold their playoffs in parallel is right up there. And it is, both sports having 2-4 games on a night for weeks on end, until each coalesces to Conference Finals and true Finals. This truly is a special time, especially since both give such different advantages. I'm not going to argue for one over the other. Of course, the NBA is more popular. Hockey is probably more celebrated for being a grueling tournament. I just want to point out a few areas where each seems to excel, not even necessarily over the other, but just in general. Things one would be good to pick up from the other.
First let's start with the shorter list (sadly), what the NBA can learn from the NHL in their playoff format:
= An actual functionally appropriate schedule
It is mindless how long the first round of the NBA playoffs takes. I get they want to avoid having 4 games on per night, and limit it to 2-3, but that means so many teams have two days off in a row throughout the first round. There's one series that started Sunday (yesterday, as I write this), will have its Game 2 on Wednesday, and Game 3 on Saturday. Yeah, there's no reason for this. The NHL will rarely have two off days, but most of the time it is one night off. It creates more of a rhythm, takes away the idea that 1st round games will be played 19 days into the playoffs of certain series go seven games. The endless length of the hockey playoffs is hailed, for basketball, it is mocked, partly due to this initial malaise.
= Re-Seeding
Look, I applaud the NBA for taking a practical approach to some of the seeding issues that have crept up over the years. First, after teams tanked to get the #6 seed in 2006 to play the #3 seed-by-right-of-winning-a-division Denver team, they decided that the #3 seed would not automatically go to a division winner - instead, the division winner would at worst be #4. Then, in 2015, the Trail Blazers ended up with the #4 seed despite a weaker record than all other playoff teams. Now they are seeded 1-8 by record. The only issue left is there is no re-seeding, something the NHL nicely did for years before going to their new NCAA Tournament-esque regional format (which has its own problems).
= Get a better trophy
Look, the NBA trophy will never have the cache of the Stanley Cup, but the Larry O'Brien trophy is incredibly bland. It is not a memorable shape, has no real redeeming qualities. They need to re-design it. I realize trophies rarely get re-designed, but it's not like anyone considers the current trophy untouchable. The also need a better name.
= Get some better branding about the tournament in general
Look, the NHL is not popular, I get that; but if you ask anyone to describe the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they will likely say something about how grueling and tough it is, how hard it is to win the Stanley Cup, to earn it, and all that stuff. For the NBA, the length is mocked. The early rounds are seen as a bit of a bore - the lack of upsets (relative) hurts. Anyway, they need some better branding of it is a tournament rather than a series of inevitable matches until LeBron vs. some Western Power happens.
Now the reverse
= Schedule your games better
Look, I'm against the scarcity approach of the NBA (2-3 games a day) but it does allow the games to be played independently. The NHL does the opposite, staggers them in such a dumb way. First off, before we get to the staggering, over the weekend they literally twice started two games at the exact same time. This makes absolutely no sense. Then, when they do decide to stagger, it is 30 minutes apart, which way too often ends up with games running concurrently way too much. Look, the hockey overload (3-4 games a night) is great, but the NHL is so stupid in their scheduling patterns.
= Better halftime/post-game shows
OK, this is a huge gripe in general, but the NHL's between period and post-game production is just so terrible. I'm not saying they should copy the NBA on TNT approach - that's a once in a lifetime combination that just works too well for the NBA. But apart from the comedy, what the NBA also does is focus on other games, not the one we were just watching like the NHL does. Oddly, the NHL's B team of Kathryn Tappen, Anson Carter and Random Third Guy (it rotates) is so much better than the main crew. Anyway, just do a better job NHL.
= Better team playoff branding
We The North. Fear The Deer. The current 76ers Snake. The NBA's annual playoff branding that teams take up is so well done. The NHL does a bit of this ('Rock the Red'), but it is usually just limited to the shirts they hand out to fans. The NBA takes on a collective approach, things that permeate just the game action. That is the way it should be done.
