94-95 Rockets went 47-35 and were a 6 seed and won the NBA finals. 98-99 Knicks were the 8 seed (50 game season) and went to the finals. I guess even if an 8 seed has no chance of going all the way, it can still impact the playoffs a lot by taking out the 1 seed. Then you have a four or five with a lot easier path to the finals. Those are two pretty good counter examples, but I’d argue there is less parity in the league today than there was 20 years ago. I didn’t enjoy the first round when the Bucks were the 8-seed and I’m not finding it much more enjoyable as the top seed. From 1980 to 1991 The Lakers made to the NBA Finals 9 times. That's not a glaring example of parity. Philadelphia, Boston, and Detroit managed to eat up every Eastern conference finals appearance during the 80's. Then it was pretty much BUlls, Bulls, Bulls in the 90's. The NBA has never really been about parity. From 1980 til now (38 years!) the NBA has had 11 different champions. Just for comparison sake, in that time the NFL has had 17 different champs, and surprisingly, the league that doesn't have a salary cap, MLB, has 22 different champions.