Every sports league has a right to create its own set of rules. And it's only natural for a new league to face greater scrutiny for the way it operates than a league with a long established tradition, a way of doing things that won't change very easily.
The bj-league, for example, is only in its fourth season of existence. But it's perfectly acceptable to question why overall point differential has become the league's tiebreaker to determine playoff seedings for teams in the same conference if they have identical records at the end of the regular season.
I contacted the NBA media relations office in New York and requested a copy of its playoff tiebreaker procedures memo. I have the copy in front of me as I write this.