Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma doesn't think the final seedings will be too important come playoffs time. According to the 25-year-old, times have changed and the implications of regular-season rankings no longer weigh as heavily as it did in years past.
In his mind, Kuzma believes seedings don't really matter much at this point:
“I don't really know that's it's as imperative as past years,” Kuzma said, via Harrison Faigen of SB Nation. “There's not really a homecourt advantage and regardless, before you get to the Finals, you're going to play the Clippers or the Jazz, or you're going to play somebody that's up there. It doesn't really matter too much. ‘Bron was a four seed in his last year in Cleveland and went to the Finals. It doesn't matter.”
The fact that the league remains stringent when it comes to fans watching live games pretty much eliminates the homecourt advantage for teams. They may be playing in their respective home floors, but without the fans, the experience is somewhat comparable to playing in the neutral grounds of the Disney World bubble.
Kuzma, who himself will play a key role in the Lakers' title bid this season, also cited teammate LeBron James' 2018 Finals run with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs went all the way to the Finals thaty year after ranking just fourth in the East in the regular season. This was before the pandemic struck, and playing in your homecourt actually still provided a significant advantage. For what it's worth, though, the Cavs did lose to the Golden State Warriors in four games in that Finals series.
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