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National Basketball League’s (NBA) first annual In-Season Tournament has arrived. The tournament features the latest courts, jerseys and a playing environment that will surely be new for all the players.
“The NBA In-Season Tournament lets players have a second chance even if they don’t make the end-of-season playoffs,” said sophomore Mason Arthurs.
Initially announced on Aug. 15, 2023, the tournament will consist of all 30 NBA teams in a group format. The teams are divided into six separate groups with five teams in each based on their conference and win-loss ratio from the 2022-2023 NBA Season.
“[In-Season Tournament games] allow teams to assess their strengths and weaknesses, make adjustments and build momentum heading into the playoffs,” said freshman Shrihan Mishra. “It’s like a continuous challenge where every game matters for a team’s performance and standings.”
The group stage of the contest will last from Nov. 3 to Nov. 28. Within the group stage, each team will play four games against those in their group. Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds. Six are from the NBA teams with the best record in their group and two wildcard spots for the best records after the winners of each group. The Knockout Rounds are played from Dec. 4-Dec. 5. After the Knockout Rounds, the Semifinals take place featuring the four winners of the Knockout Rounds on Dec. 7. Finally, the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship will occur on Dec. 9 where the two remaining teams play.
The Knockout Rounds, Semifinals, and Championship are single-elimination, meaning that if a team loses, the team is eliminated from winning. The winner of the Knockout Rounds wins a cash prize and the first Annual In-Season Tournament Trophy.
“It feels great because it’s an In-Season Tournament win. And we’ll take that, we’ll take that for sure. There’s $500,000 [per player prize money] on the line – so we’re goin’ for that. We’re goin’ for that,” said Lakers forward Lebron James in an interview with the NBA.
After the NBA In-Season Tournament, the NBA will name the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament and an All-Tournament team consisting of the best-performing players during Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.
The games played during the tournament will count towards the 82 regular season games, minus the championship, preventing NBA players from playing more games than necessary.
“I don’t think it [The NBA In-Season Tournament] makes a huge difference. Players just take it like the regular season,” said freshman Zach Waterman.
The tournament originated from European soccer tournaments, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver has always been fascinated with European soccer.
“We stole the idea from international soccer, and so international players were quick to get it and also just understand the tradition,” said Silver in an interview with The Old Man & The Three podcast. “It’s meaningful to win the FA Cup or something like that, you know, in the English Premier League, so they, I think they sort of have helped to spread the word to their teammates and around the league.”
