This is how unfair the NBA playoff system is: You might even be able to feel sorry for Mark Cuban.

Cuban, of course, is the Dallas Mavericks' billionaire owner who loves letting you know he is a billionaire and you aren't. I can't say if any of us would behave any differently if we had Cuban's good fortune, but since we don't it's easy for us to belittle Cuban as the self-involved, publicity seeking bore he has become.

Ah, but I digress.

Cuban's Dallas Mavericks are a very good basketball team.

No one is quite sure just how good, and probably not quite a championship team. But they certainly are one of the four best teams in the NBA this season — and we all know there is that "things can happen" category — so even a Mavericks' championship parade is not out of the question.

Though the way the NBA has set up its playoff system could go a long way toward unfairly detouring a team like the Mavericks and could become the biggest issue of the playoffs and embarrassment for the NBA at its best time of the year.

The Mavericks could end up with the third best record in the NBA — the Pistons will likely lead the way — yet have to face the defending champion San Antonio Spurs with perhaps the league's best record in the second round of the playoffs. Thus one of the league's top two teams could be out of the playoffs midway through May with teams that have won perhaps a dozen or more fewer games in the regular season given an effective pass into the conference finals merely by odd geographical pairings.

And all to sell a few more t-shirts and hats.

It's the goofy six-division setup that the NBA established after expanding to add Charlotte last season.

Divisions are virtually meaningless in the NBA, which conducts its playoffs by Eastern and Western Conference. Though in the interests of brevity and to avoid long newspaper statistical boxes, the NBA broke into four divisions — two per conference — following a big expansion in 1970-71. It continued to add teams until hitting 30 last year and then dividing into six divisions.

And what's the point of having a division unless you have a champion and can sell t-shirts and those "locker-room-seen-on TV' hats.

Even though no one in the NBA celebrates division championships.

"We don't hang any division banners," says one general manager whose team has numerous.

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Good luck finding an NBA fan now who even can name the six divisions, all geographical, though you'd need an inventive travel agent to take you around some of the divisions.

For instance, the Northwest Division includes Minnesota and Seattle. So how much do you suppose they have in common?

It's not a big issue since no one in the NBA pays any attention to divisions, except the NBA decided to make it important. NBA executives took up the issue at this season's All-Star break and deputy commissioner Russ Granik indicated there would be a change for next season.

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But this season it's certain the NBA will lose one of its best teams and biggest attractions halfway through the playoffs just because of geography and stubborness. And it will place a burden on the winner of that showdown, likely between the Mavericks and the Spurs, because playing a tougher opponent sooner depletes a team, perhaps forces extra games and the chance of injury to key players.

By adding an extra division and thus having to come up with a reward for the division winner, the NBA decided to give the division winners the top three seeds for the playoff tournament.

With eight teams from each conference making the playoffs, that means one bracket would have the teams with the best and poorest playoff eligible record and the fourth and fifth seeds. The huge flaw the NBA ignored was by giving the other division winners the second and third seed, it ignored the situation that has occurred this season and is not uncommon of the two best teams coming from the same division.

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