After the new play-in tournament proved to be something of a ratings bonanza this week, the NBA appears hopeful that it can come to an agreement with the National Basketball Players’ Association about creating a midseason tournament, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Woj reports that NBA commissioner Adam Silver thinks the league will be able to convince the rest of the Board of Governors (comprising Silver, the owners of all 30 teams, and their representatives) to bring the concept to a vote down the road. The midseason tournament idea had previously not made it to the voting stage when it was considered before the pandemic.
Two-thirds of team owners would need to support the measure for it to be enacted. The earliest a midseason tournament could be implemented now would be the 2022/23 season.
Silver believes a midseason tournament will be able to help keep fans invested during a lengthy regular season that has sometimes struggled to maintain interest ahead of the playoffs. The original proposal also included a pitch to reduce the NBA regular season from 82 games to 78 in order to accommodate a midseason competition.
Previously, the league had been looking to model its midseason tournament around the structure that European football currently uses. The NBA was considering an eight-game single-elimination competition. Each player on the victorious squad would be rewarded with a $1MM payout, under this original proposal.
No one wants this. Just give another All Star break type. Rooks/Sophs vs G League AS and a Dunk Contest with just dudes with less than 2 yrs exp.
Gives the vets a week off.
dunk contest is played out. everythings been done already
By any measure games that dont count for the real season are nothing better then pre-season garbage time.
Jesus, this is just the stupidest idea of all time.
I say lose the play in. “Ratings Bonanza”? I mean I get the one game numbers were great for LA-GSW, but then the actual 8th seed thats the number 2 draw for audiences got bumped by what the 24th for the full 7 game series. Epic fail by NBA bricking out one of the two best draws for a one game hit of crack.
Were ratings even up at the end of the year? I get that more teams had games that mattered, but was that just the result of flatter standings in a shorter year and a bunch of teams bunched together? I dont think they can bank on the standings producing a similar finish next year.
I like the play in. Makes teams stop coasting through reg season. I know the lakers made it but imagine if they lost out(and they won barely against GS). You think they would BS next year?
It doesn’t make teams stop coasting. In the East this year, the 8, 9, and 10 seeds all finished with the same record. In a normal year, that would have made the final game of the season very meaningful. This year it didn’t matter because all three were guaranteed at least one more game.
Plus, the Clippers actively coasted their way into the 4 seed because they liked the matchups more. Of course, it going to be funny when Dallas bounces them, but nonetheless.
What does the winner get? A Popeyes meal? Face it Adam, no one wants this.
Yeah, seriously. What would the winner get? Oh hey, you won the midseason tournament! Now play 40 more games and do the actual playoffs that matter. What a joke.
It clearly states the winner gets a $1mm for each player. for a rookie earning the minimum or a vet earning the minimum that’s a good reward.
A rookie earns considerably more than a minimum…
he means like 2nd round picks or undrafted rookies
Correct, some people are just not smart enough to think on their own.
A million is a MILLION dude. Stop! That is a hell of a reward.
But how does that make it inticing for the fan? I don’t care if a player gets another million to toss on the pile. That doesn’t help the team. But I do care if my team gets a bonus 1st round pick the nest season. Maybe if the winner of the tourney got a bonus pick right after the lottery. It would be in addition to their regular pick and could be traded at the deadline as well.
THAT is far better than a monetary bonus for players.
Adam Silver and Rob Manfred should go play in traffic.
NBA can replace pre season games with the first half of this tournament. Then play out the final four in MSG. Winner gets the 15th pick, which can be tradable in-season, which incentives GMs.
this would be unfair to other teams because a very good team like the nets or lakers will be getting essentially a lottery pick for beating teams like the pistons, rockets etc
At the very least it would be a 2 week rest for veteran teams if they purposely lose the first game. For older teams that’s a great incentive.
I wonder if Adam Silver has ever heard the term, ‘if it aint broke then don’t fix it it’…
Boring …
The ratings were high for the play-in because the games actually meant something.
82 games is way too much. As a result much of the season is pointless.
Look at Brooklyn with a high seed and good odds for playoff success and they basically wrote off the season with phantom injuries in favour of rest for its stars. Same with Kawhi during Toronto’s championship campaign.
I’d be looking at cutting games not adding meaningless mid-season events.
As we’ve seen this year, less rest equals more injuries.
There are better ways to revamp this league. Hometown player allowances a la soccer, making fair the buyout market, making the court wider, an official with instant replay communicating with the live officiating crew with earpieces etc etc etc.
But yeah, I know it’s all about money
You are SO on point my man! I thought about official with instant replay so much. With so many calls blown. Why the heck do they not have an official with complete video access to determine the true nature of the call at all times? I also like the idea of expanding the court.
Also I thought about having a 3 point arc only and replacing the side line 3 with a corner “spot” 3.
Adam Silver seems to have thrown this out there – just at this right time, when he does not suspend his King for COVID protocols violation.
Mid-season tournament would not work unless it meant something.
I love nba, but I honestly think the schedule is too long anyways. Shorten the regular season and keep the play in (that’s the “tournament” they hoped for that actual means something).
Give each player bonus money who makes the playoffs.
The European soccer cups of various varieties have a very long history dating back to the 19th Century. Additionally, The best teams attempt to win 2, 3, or all 4 of these cups which is exceeding difficult to do because of the grueling nature of the schedule required to win multiple cups in a year and the depth of the talent on the team as the stars do not play in every one of these games. Silver’s idea is almost solely based upon generating more revenue during the doldrums of the season and has none of the challenging aspects of the European soccer model (they are even cutting regular season games to accommodate it). I guess if they can do it for the next 10 years they might indoctrinate the next generation of fans to buy it or love it or get invested but it’s only about the money. In European soccer, the club management, the players, and the fans are 100% invested in winning as many cups as possible.
Winner of the midseason tourney is guaranteed at least the fourth seed in their conference? Runner-up at least gets a play-in spot?
The only other real incentive is straight cash, homie.
But who is supposed to be incentivized? I think fans are the ones that need the incentive here. Players have to play like 5 more games, big deal. But fans have to want to watch, otherwise there is no money.
Give the tourney winner a bonus first pick after the lottery in the next draft. Give the runner up the final pick in the first round. Give the final two picks in the draft to the 3rd and 4th place teams. Fans gets incentive for the team to win. 4 extra draft picks means 4 extra rookies get paychecks. And make all of the draft picks tradable, which gives winning teams extra ammo at the trade deadline.
If that doesn’t incentivize players, then they shouldn’t be in the league at all.
Why would players care ’bout draft picks for their teams?
If you are a star, you ain’t caring ’bout it, if you are a roll player, they might take your spot, so why on earth would anyone care ’bout draft picks?
Players must care ’bout themselves first & foremost, not their job to care ’bout the team, as they team will be very quick to get rid of them whenever it suits them, sadly when players do the right thing by publicly asking for a trade, then, fans will crucify them, real unfair if you ask me!
I’m so glad you are around to cry for these multi-millionaires on guaranteed contracts. You are like the Sarah McLachlan to their abandoned pooches. Next time start belting out “I Will Remember You” and I might care.
The league is for the fans, not for the players. They are the employees. Without the fans, all their salaries go away like dust in the wind.
Teams should play the same amount of games. This is fair to everyone, and good for proper use of comparative statistics… for stats that can be compared, insteard of creating still more columns of numbers to prorate everything.
This can be done even with a cup trny., but Silver alone will not care.
Enlarging the court width and 3-pt line are good plans. If the women’s game doesn’t like it, add another 3pt line.
Currently the court is 50′ wide and the 3pt line is 23’9″. That could be 25′ and 56′. Many of the lines could be altered to be more realistic and cleaner (less thrown together).
Also any line could be replaced by a colorblock border, but that may take some explaining.