The day is finally here! It is time to witness the NBA’s newest experiment, as the In-Season tournament is set to start this Friday with a seven-game thriller. How does it work? All 30 clubs were drawn into six groups of five teams and each will play a total of four games to decide six group winners who will qualify for the quarter-finals in December.
The four last teams standing will then head to Las Vegas for the semi-final matches and the championship game will be played on December 9. The 67 contests played in the competition (expect for the Final) will count in the regular-season standings.
“With the addition of this new marquee event on the NBA calendar, we’re focused on providing players and teams with another competition to win, engaging fans in a different way and driving further interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule,” said Joe Dumars, who serves as NBA executive vice president.
THE FIRST-EVER NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT TIPS OFF TONIGHT 🔥
Cavs vs. Pacers
Knicks vs. Bucks
Wizards vs. Heat
Nets vs. Bulls
Warriors vs. Thunder
Mavs vs. Nuggets
Grizzlies vs. Blazers7 GAME SLATE 🍿 pic.twitter.com/56gj8EoteL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 3, 2023
However, not everyone is so excited about the NBA’s latest invention. New Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart recently voiced what many were thinking: “Being completely honest, nobody cares about it. It’s the big one that we care about.”
Despite the fact that not too many people around the league are terribly thrilled about it, others like Spurs coach Gregg Popovich believe it can serve as another competitive outlet that can provide hints for what’s to come when the playoffs arrive.
“It’s exciting for everybody,” claimed the San Antonio legend. “All these guys are very competitive… if you put something out there like this, it just adds to that competitiveness and really signals what might happen toward the end of the season.”
Fellow coach Erik Spoelstra, on the other hand, has his doubt but still remains open to it. “I’m not totally sure [what it will add], I’m just open to it and excited about it,” the Heat trainer shared. “I remember five years ago when they started talking about the Play-In, everybody said, ‘That’s a horrible idea.’ Fast-forward, obviously we were a great beneficiary of that Play-In. I wish our team from [2016-17] would have had the Play-In.
“So I think the league understands you have to continually evolve. And when it has to do with competition, and sparking even more competition … I’m all for it.”
The NBA has tried their best to lure teams into trusting the In-Season Tournament by offering big money prizes and unique experiences for fans
The league has attempted to show incentives for both franchises and their fans into believing the In-Season cup could be a great idea in the long run. Not only has the NBA tried to create a unique experience for fans to consume, but have opted for offering big cash prizes to the winners.
The money incentive has reportedly been $500,000 per player for the championship team, and prizes ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 for clubs that make it into the quarter-finals.
Will these amounts be enough to lure superstars into giving their all for this new competition? New Bucks guard Damian Lillard believes it so.
“I did learn that there’s a prize for the champion individually,” he said this week. “And also learned that [end of the roster] two-way players get that prize as well. So as somebody who has built relationships with a lot of those guys over the course of my career, I would love that. To not only be able to win it but to say, ‘We looked out for our guys.’”
