What Was The NBA In-Season Tournament?

By Caleb Lebeau ‘27 
This winter saw the NBA’s first inaugural in-season tournament (IST). NBA fans and players have been very vocal about their opinions on this new event, but the question in many people’s minds is, what even was it? 

​

All 30 teams were randomly split into six groups of five within their conference. In the first round, teams played on Tuesday and Friday nights to compete for the best record in their groups. 
The six teams with the best records in their groups and two “wild cards” then advanced to the “Knockout Round." These were single-elimination quarterfinal games played on December 4th and 5th. Next, the four teams that won these games flew to Las Vegas to compete in the semifinals and finals, competing for the new NBA Cup and $500,000 awarded to every member of the winning team.
There was a lot of skepticism among fans and even confusion on the part of the players around this new tournament. Seven-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard voiced his thoughts in a post-game interview, saying, “It’s weird because of the energy you can tell it’s like something is happening but it’s new so I’m not sure what… is going on.” 
Senior Mimi Lebeau said, “At first I wasn’t sure this was a necessary addition to the league, however as I saw the excitement among the players and the sold-out crowd at the final game, I realized this was a great way to give players an incentive to play hard during the mid-season slump.”
 It is impossible to discuss the in-season tournament without mentioning the bright and flashy courts in each team's arenas. This idea was presented by Commissioner Adam Silver, predicting it would draw attention and make the tournament stand out from regular season games. Many fans complained about this addition and said it made it hard to identify players and see the ball on the court. 
With that being said, the tournament was a major success among NBA fans. According to global media company Forbes, the number of viewers for an IST quarterfinals game increased 93% over a normal regular season game in November. Forbes also reported that the IST brought in more average fans in attendance than any other year in November. 
The teams that made the quarterfinals were the Lakers, Suns, Kings, Pelicans, Celtics, Pacers, Bucks and Knicks. The Lakers took a commanding win over the Pelicans led by Lebron James in the semifinals. The Pacers also defeated the Bucks to advance to the finals despite an astounding performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo. In the finals, the Lakers won the inaugural NBA in-season tournament and Lebron James was awarded the tournament MVP trophy.

​