The NBA: We're not laughing with you

And this is why we just can't take the NBA seriously.

A colleague of ours pointed out that the NBA playoffs are almost here and that the East Coast has some of these NBA teams. We just thought the pro basketball they spoke of was Duke, UConn and North Carolina. But apparently this Association has many teams that do play on the East Coast.

And as we came to learn, over half of these teams in the so-called "Eastern Conference" make the playoffs. So we checked the standings and noticed that being a good team is no longer a prerequisite for the postseason.

Currently, three teams (Indiana, Milwaukee and Chicago) are in playoff position with losing records. A fourth -- Philadelphia -- is tied for the eighth spot with a stellar mark of 37-41, after winning three straight. (Washington, currently in the fifth spot, is 39-39).

Perhaps The Association should consider cutting down the number of playoff teams. Really. It's just a thought, but a team four games under .500 playing in the postseason is just pretty sad.

We don't like The Association, as you can tell. The only time we've really been interested in an NBA game was when Ron Artest thought it would be silly to beat the fuck out of random fans. But if the NBA gets your blood flowing on a regular basis, check out some of these sites to get a more positive NBA bias.

• YAYsports! NBA

• The Basketball Jones

• The Association

• True Hoop

In other NBA news: LeBron James sprained his ankle Wednesday after he was attacked by rabid Pistons' fans.