NBA In-Season Tournament Could Arrive Ahead Of 2023-24 Season
From changing the way certain fouls are called to discussing possible league expansion in future years, the NBA has been making some big changes in the offseason.
One of the big topics of discussion for the NBA and its owners over the last year has been the introduction of an in-season tournament to incentivize players to not sit out meaningful games.
As talks of a possible in-season tournament go on internally around the league, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Friday that this new format could be introduced as soon as the start of the 2023-24 NBA season.
According to Charania, the early framework of what this tournament could look like includes all thirty teams competing in cup games through November with eight teams advancing to the single-elimination final in December. The other 22 teams not in this “tournament final” would continue the regular season as normal.
It is also important to note that these cup games and in-season tournament games would count towards the 82-game regular season schedule with one extra game being added for the two teams who compete for the championship.
The idea of implementing an in-season tournament first began ahead of the start of the 2021-22 season when the owners and league met, as a possible incentive to play that was discussed was giving one million dollars per player in prize money to the winning franchise.
The NBA and NBPA have yet to fully agree on this in-season tournament, as key details like prize money and format are still being discussed and formulated.
