NBA Officially Unveils Long-Awaited In-Season Tournament
Commissioner Adam Silver has finally officially announced the long-anticipated in-season tournament for the NBA. He revealed the full plans during NBA2K24 Summer League on Saturday afternoon. The plan change will introduce an “NBA Cup” that will mirror similar European sports.
“This is a concept that has been rumbling around the league office for around 15 years,” Silver said on an episode of NBA Today from “NBA Con” as noted by ESPN. “We thought what a perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA, and it’s a perfect fit for our game. New traditions take time. But, all throughout sports, we are seeing new innovations, and now is the time for this NBA in-season tournament.”
Read More: Update On NBA In-Season Tournament
Adam Silver Holds A Press Conference
The NBA’s executive vice president of basketball strategy and analytics, Evan Wasch, also played a key role in facilitating the creation of the in-season tournament. He also discussed the impact the tournament will have on the schedule.
“The commitment we made to teams is that we would do everything in our power to avoid the group play games being the second night of back-to-backs, it will likely be impossible to avoid some of them being the first night of back-to-backs,” Wasch said. “It is probably infeasible for us to deliver a schedule where they’re not the first or second night of [any] back-to-backs. So the commitment we hope to achieve at this point is to avoid second nights of back-to-backs.”
ESPN’s Richard Jefferson Breaks Down The Tournament
In other NBA news, rookie Victor Wembanyama made his summer league debut on Friday night. Despite a win for the San Antonio Spurs, Wemby disappointed fans with just nine points, eight rebounds, three assists, and five blocks while going 2-for-13 from the field. His next chance to play will be on Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Read More: NBA Proposes Framework For In-Season Tournament
[Via]