The NBA has wrapped up their inaugural in-season tournament, with the Los Angeles Lakers winning it all. This tournament, which was viewed initially as a cash grab, has become what many have seen as a great thing for the league. Online installment 500 dollar loan same day with no credit check.
On July 8, 2023, NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the addition of a tournament to the regular season. In this tournament, there are six different groups of teams. The winner of each group, as well as the next team in the conference with the best record and point differential, would move onto the actual tournament. Then it would progress as a normal, single-elimination tournament with eight teams.
At first, this tournament was heavily scrutinized by NBA fans. How it was structured was confusing to fans. The way that the groups were set up and how the elimination worked wasn’t the same as the regular playoffs, leading to confusion among fans. “At first, I thought it was kind of stupid,” says sophomore Sai Gumudavelly. Many players, when interviewed at the start of the tournament, were also confused about how it was going to be run.
When the tournament had started, it faced more criticism because of the multi-colored courts introduced, with many fans stating that it was hard to look at and made the game harder to watch. Many thought that it was going to be a bust of an idea, and it should be scrapped.
The more competitive nature of the tournament is what has allowed it to be successful. During the regular season, games have little to no meaning… But because there were stakes for the tournament, losing actually had meaning.
However, as the tournament progressed, criticism seemed to go away, and the tournament had received praise. “After watching it, I thought it was kind of intelligent, not gonna lie,” remarks Sai again.
The prize for the tournament was 500 thousand dollars for the winner, so the teams had treated it like the actual playoffs to get it. One of these teams was the Indiana Pacers, who made it to the finals before losing to the Lakers. The Indiana Pacers have the lowest combined payroll in the entire league. Players were more motivated to win the tournament because of this.
“Yes, it was more competitive,” Gumudavelly agrees.
The more competitive nature of the tournament is what has allowed it to be successful. During the regular season, games have little to no meaning. If the team loses, it likely won’t be incredibly meaningful to a team’s season. But because there were stakes for the tournament, losing actually had meaning. Teams played harder in order to win the prize. This made the games more exciting for the average viewer. And the numbers back this up. Viewership during the in-season tournament games was up 41 percent from the games at the same time last season.
The tournament is highly likely to be run again next year. The viewership numbers, and the fact that many watching agreed that it felt like a playoff environment, means that Adam Silver struck gold with this. The In-Season Tournament is likely here to stay for the rest of the history of the NBA.
