Author: Monojit Mandal
NBA commissioner Adam Silver provided more information about the proposed in-season event that will take place during the 2023-24 NBA season. Silver revealed to Sports Business Journal’s World Congress of Sport on Tuesday that the event aims to establish “additional games of relevance throughout the regular season”, using international soccer as a model.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks, the winning club will receive a financial reward of $500,000, while the runner-up team will receive a financial bonus of $200,000. The financial incentive raised concerns about whether the players would be more motivated to win the tournament games, which will differ in appearance and format from the regular season games.
The concept of the tournament, as reported earlier this month by Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, would include intra-conference groups for group games, with champions and wildcard teams moving on to the single-elimination part of the tournament. The title game will not count towards the team’s regular season record.
Silver noted that, depending on the bracket, the tournament could result in a few extra games between conferences, but it’s unlikely that fans will notice a big change in the overall fan experience. The NBA championship will remain the most significant reward, and the tournament will add excitement to the regular season, especially for the final game.
The varied uniforms worn by the players will be a crucial aspect of the event, helping to separate the tournament matches from the regular season games. The layout of the court can also be changed to better separate the tournament matches.
The competition will have an opening round, a knockout round and a group game before the four semi-finalists can compete at a neutral venue. The cash incentive for the players of the winning teams will be used during the final match.
The NBA hopes that the season-long tournament will provide a new level of excitement for fans and players, as well as generating more interest in the regular season.