Cover Photo Via CBS Sports

Author: Spencer Wood

When the In-Season Tournament was first announced, many were skeptical that the league was trying to “do too much” and was creating a meaningless addition to the season. Questions began to circulate on the validity of such a tournament, and why anyone would be willing to “buy-in” to it.

“Why would the players care about a 500k reward when they get paid millions?”

 “Why would we see an increase in competitive play when we live in the era of load management?” 

“Why would athletes be willing to play an additional game for such a small amount and a greater risk of injury?” 

These are but a few examples of the early discussions on the topic, and at the time, they were all valid in their hesitance to herald this new competition, one that would disrupt the NBA regular season like we have not seen before. This is not new in the NBA community or even the sports community, however, as any change to our historic sports and leagues are to be met with severe scrutiny to ensure the games they love are not tarnished. Similar reactions could be found when the All-Star game swapped from East-West to player-drafted teams, and back to East-West again, or when the concept of the Play-In Tournament was first announced. 

And while you may have mixed feelings on these changes, they have certainly done well to draw more attention to the league, and eventually have led to majority support amongst fans after experiencing life after their inceptions.While there will likely be tweaks to the tournament as time goes on, it is irrefutable to say that the inaugural In-Season Tournament was a success, and was a masterful stroke by NBA Commisionner Adam Silver in his attempt to liven up the long slog of the NBA regular season.

With having stipulations such as point total differentials, total points scored, record against assigned groups on assigned nights, and even single-elimination style games, the In-Season Tournament had drummed up some of the most competitive basketball the regular season has seen in a while. You were not just incentivized to beat your opponent, but to rather bury them by all means necessary. Veterans were moved to play for the 500K bonus on the behalfs of their teammates who may be on non-gaurenteed deals, or would see a their season’s income grow my several multiples. And alas, it was not the top-seeded teams in the East & West that emerged to represent their conference, nay, it was underdogs that won by determination and domination. The Los Angeles Lakers emerged, not the defending champs in the Denver Nuggets. The Indiana Pacers, who have one nationally televised game this season, emerged over the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks to show the world on the national stage that they too are deserving of respect.

And in the end, we were greeted with the Los Angeles Lakers, the league’s premier brand, emerging victorious despite the high-powered Pacers making several runs to close the gaps in their championship matchup. We got to see a young superstar in Tyrese Haliburton show us that he is not an emerging star, but one that has been doing this since his arrival in Indiana. We got a monster 40/20 game from Anthony Davis, who had shown us just how locked in he was for this game. And finally, we got to see King James, who in his 21st NBA season hoisted the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament MVP Trophy and joined the All-Tournament Team to cap off the pageantry and storybook ending for the tournament. 

The NBA In-Season Tournament is over, but its effect will be etched into history as a success upon its launch, and will even get its own banner at the respective team’s arenas who win the tournament from now on. 

As time goes on, we can’t wait to see who hoists the next trophy.

Photo from Olympics.com