The east is only weaker at the very top. Golden State, San Antonio are the two best teams, followed by the Cavs. Houston and last year Oklahoma are in that region too, if not quite there.
Then you have a large number of teams that are interchangeable between conferences. Teams like Utah, LAC, Memphis, Portland, this year's OKC are not any better than teams like Boston, Toronto, Washington, Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Hawks, etc.
And outside the playoff spots both conferences are filled with atrocious teams. People acting like the west is superior top to bottom are being silly. 3 of the top 4 teams for the last several years have been in the west, but beyond that, the East easily matches up.