What’s The Point Of The NBA’s New Mid-Season Tournament?
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For the last couple of years, the NBA has considered implementing a mid-season tournament into their schedule. Fans have long complained about a regular season schedule that drags on from October all the way to April and often features very little excitement in the months of January, February, and even March to some extent. League officials wanted to address these complaints by spicing up the schedule a bit and adding something to make the players play harder during the boring winter months. And just last week, Adam Silver announced his solution to the problem; the NBA In-Season Tournament (yes, that’s actually what it’s called). While this seems great on the surface, one can question whether the competition actually serves to address the issues it was designed to tackle. In fact, the announcement has actually left many pondering if there’s even any point to the In-Season Tournament at all.
One hope many players had for the event was that it would reduce the amount of regular season games on the schedule. They have made it clear that 82 games before the playoffs is too many and that they would like a lighter schedule and more days off. The hope for a mid-season tournament was that it would cut down the amount of games played, while making the remaining ones more exciting and intense. So I can only imagine the shock on the player’s faces when they heard that not only would the In-Season Tournament not reduce the number of games played, but it will actually ADD games to the schedules of the teams who do the best! While the group-play events will double as part of the 82 game season, the top eight teams will play additional events in the knockout rounds. Two franchises, those that make it to the championship finale in Las Vegas, will actually wind up taking part in a whopping 85 games during the regular season! If the goal of this plan was to make the schedule easier on the players, it certainly will not achieve that.
Another problem that could have been resolved was the issue of tanking. Every year, the league’s worst franchises effectively give up on the season in December or January, and stop trying to win games in order to gain a higher draft pick during the upcoming offseason. Nobody enjoys watching teams tank, so the league has been trying to stop teams from doing so. One way to incentivize competition could have been the mid-season tournament. Perhaps a high draft pick could have been at stake, or maybe a guaranteed playoff position that would have been valuable to teams with no other viable path to the postseason. There are many ways the NBA could have attacked tanking organizations with this competition, but the only reward they’re offering is a trophy. A simple trophy called ‘The NBA Cup’ that will surely collect dust in the front office of some GM across the league. There’s no reason why any team, much less the bad ones, should try harder to win the NBA Cup.
And that’s the biggest problem with the whole tournament; there’s no reason to try. The NBA wanted to make their stars play harder during the regular season by dangling a carrot on a string in front of their noses, and offering up a prize so valuable that the whole league would trip over themselves trying to get it. But it appears as though the league is dangling an empty string, as there is no real incentive for winning the tournament. Sure, the NBA Cup is a novel idea, but what does it prove? That a team got hot and won a few games in a row? The path to earning it feels too simple, too bland. There isn’t much that goes into it, just a few simple knockout rounds that eventually end with a winner. The trophy lacks prestige, and there’s no other rewards for winning it all. No money for the players or the front office. No championship rings. No draft picks or guaranteed playoff spots. Just a trophy. A trophy that I doubt many players are going to care about.
Perhaps I am wrong, and the NBA In-Season Tournament will go on to be a great success. Maybe a bracket-style competition and a little hype are all the players will need to finally start caring about games in November and December. In 10 years, the NBA Cup may be valued almost as highly as an MVP award or even the Larry O’Brien trophy. But I can’t say I’m holding my breath. All the event appears to accomplish is bringing a little media buzz to the NBA and getting the league into arenas in Las Vegas without actually giving their city a franchise. Instead of shortening the season, disincentivizing tanking, and bringing excitement to the regular season, all this competition will likely do is highlight the disconnect between the league officials and the players/fans. It is impossible to tell what the future holds for the In-Season Tournament, but at the moment, it seems as though there is little point to it at all.
