One that is definitely a factor is that good West teams end up in the lottery while bad East teams make the playoffs.

Colin Cowherd (a radio personality I really don't like) theorizes that fan-bases in the West are more passionate and therefore there is more pressure put on front offices and owners to build winning teams. The Knicks will continue to be in the top 3 in profits no matter how horrible their team is. There just is no accountability for the Knicks.