Why the hell is this even a thing? The NBA In-Season Tournament has had its opening round of games happen these last few days, and it really is just a big waste of time.
There is SO MANY WAYS this in-season tournament could have been modeled, but Adam Silver really had to make it the most stupid possible?
Despite pretty much being the playoffs modified into a quasi-Champions League tournament, the NBA In-Season Tournament has really impressed me with how…STUPID it plays out in adaptation. And, to be honest, I really hope the NBA figures this out soon as the In-Season Tournament is not going to last if it doesn’t.
Okay, so I don’t want to make it sound like I think having another tournament for the 30 franchises to compete and play for that is similar in stature and gravitas to the Larry O’Brien trophy is a bad idea as it’s not. It’s actually a great way to not only reward the legends of the game, whether they be players, coaches, GMs, staff members, etc., with another opportunity to win a ring, but it also can be used to further add to the gravitas and prestige of the NBA and the 30 basketball franchises.
But, as it has been played out in its current form, the NBA In-Season Tournament is just one of the worst ideas EVER!
I’m sorry, but what the hell is the differential factor to the In-Season Tournament besides the courts being painted over?
The players played the exact same way as they would for any other regular season game a month into the season, the fans reacted the same way they would to any other regular season game a month into the season, the coaches coached the same, the trainers helped the players the same, the announces pretty much had the same monotone voices for some meaningless regular season match-up, and the refs were just as bad as they always are.
Again, the only difference I saw was the courts!
I have no idea why Adam Silver thought it was a good idea to INCORPORATE the In-Season Tournament, which was supposed to be a completely new tournament in addition to the regular quest for the Larry O’Brien trophy, into the regular season. If you lose all of your group stage games, they just count as three losses on your standings. And if you win all of your group stage games, they just count as three wins on your regular season standings.
And it goes like that all the way up until the final four. Why?
Why even have a new tournament if there’s really no penalty for getting knocked out besides a few extra losses on your regular season standings…which actually aren’t even “a few extra losses” as the games coincide with one another? If the NBA really wants to have another tournament, then they should have made the In-Season Tournament a GLOBAL competition to face off against the various clubs around the world.
The reason why the Champions League works for the European football leagues is because the best of each league (usually Top-4 finishers) gets to face off against one another for the chance of winning the Champions League Trophy, while they also still stay in their own domestic league and play for their, respective, domestic league titles.
You can’t have the same 30 North American basketball franchises playing off against one another for two different tournaments as that just negates the value of new trophy. I mean, why would you go all out for the In-Season Tournament when the historic and Hall of Fame-valued trophy, the NBA title (aka: Larry O’Brien trophy), is still around and holds far more weight and meaning than the In-Season trophy? I know I wouldn’t.
So, if the NBA wants my opinion, they need to make the In-Season Tournament a competition between the NBA teams and the most successful foreign teams around the world as that’s the only way to create actual meaning and originality to the trophy.
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