The National Basketball Association (NBA) is back, but this season a twist was added to the league. On July 8, 2023, the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, announced that an In-Season Tournament would be played. This was a move that the league has been discussing for years. Not unlike a model that soccer leagues across the world have implemented, having tournaments that run during the regular season is an interesting addition. The winner of this tournament won the new NBA Cup trophy and each player on the winning team received $500,000 in prize money.
With the NBA In-Season Tournament in play since the beginning of November, there have been many questions about it, and so much confusion. Even players like star Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks expressed how he, “dosen’t know what is going on,” and how the players themselves were confused with this new addition.
“The format of the tournament is kind of confusing because of the point format and how they select which teams move on to the knockout stage of the tournament,” junior Ebby Basil explained.
In the tournament, teams were put into groups of five, each team playing each other once to decide who moved on to the knockout stage, Every game played in the tournament other than the final game also counted towards the 82-game regular season. There are six total groups, three in the Eastern Conference, and three in the Western Conference. The team with the best record in each group moves on to the knockout stage. Even though there are six group winners, eight teams move on to the knockout stage, totalling four per conference with the addition of a high scoring wild card team. There was also plenty of customization in this tournament as well. Each team has city edition alternate uniforms that they wear during these tournament games. Also, one aspect everyone has been talking about are the changes made to the court. Usually the courts have a beige like color, but for tournament games only, courts are colored to match the color of the home team.
“I have seen the courts and the colored uniforms and I think there are some very good designs they have come up with this season,” junior Santhosh Venkateshwaran explained.
Questions on if the tournament is really needed and why Adam Silver decided to add it to the NBA have been circulating.
“I think the NBA In-Season Tournament is good because it is gonna increase viewer turnout and add more interest into the games for fans. An 82 game season is really long so a lot of fans lose interest during the season, but adding this tournament gets more people to keep their interest in the league with this new addition,” junior Santhosh Venkateshwaran said.
This was evident throughout the tournament, as fans and players were more engaged in games than usual.
“I think they decided to create this tournament because it will also really help with an increase in revenue if the viewership increases. It seems like a reasonable move from the NBA,” junior Ebby Basil inferred.
The tournament has concluded and a great first In-Season Tournament was enjoyed by many NBA fans. The tournament ended with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers winning in the final game against the Indiana Pacers. Lakers center Anthony Davis had a great game, scoring twenty points and pulling down forty rebounds. The Lakers went undefeated throughout the tournament. Adam Silver and the NBA also announced that LeBron James won the first ever MVP award of the tournament. Each player on the Lakers got a medal and the team got a trophy, the NBA Cup. Each player on the Lakers received $500,000.
As the tournament has come to an end many viewers were satisfied with how the tournament added more intensity to the games. These single elimination, In-Season tournament games, have turned regular season games into games with a playoff atmosphere. Before the tournament many were unsure if the players and fans would buy into these games, but in the latter stages of the tournament teams were competing at a high level. With the NBA discussing the inclusion of this tournament for years, it has been able to increase viewership and interest in the game around the globe.