For months, there have been rumors and reports that the NBA may add an in-season tournament to its regular season schedule.
On Saturday, it became official, as Commissioner Adam Silver unveiled the tournament structure and how it would work during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
Still, many people are skeptical that NBA players and fans will care about the games that comprise the tournament more than they already care about regular season games.
But analyst Keith Smith urged fans to give it a chance.
Seems to be a rush to dump on the
NBA Cup. I don’t get it. Just give it a chance. The NBA hasn’t missed very often with stuff like this. The NBA Cup will probably end up being really fun too.
At worst, we get a few extra games between good teams or teams going hard early-season.— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 9, 2023
The reasoning behind implementing this in-season tournament seems to be to create some excitement during the regular season and give players an incentive to go all out.
In recent years, there has been the trend of players skipping regular season games due to “load management,” which ultimately cheats fans out of the entertainment that is an NBA game in which all players take things seriously.
The question is whether players will be motivated to win the new NBA Cup, which will be awarded to the winner of this in-season tournament.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see players, especially veteran stars, sitting out these games due to load management because they consider the NBA Cup to be a meaningless trophy.
However, there is also the possibility that after a while (it could take many years), the trophy could take on a special meaning of its own and players will actually be motivated to win it.
Fans and observers should give this in-season tournament a chance, but they also shouldn’t automatically expect much out of it.
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