The In-Season Tournament Recap: The Real MVP
On Saturday, December 8 th , the NBA had its first In-Season Tournament Championship in Las Vegas. It was a culmination of a twist on international tournaments like the World Cup, where there was a four-game group stage followed by an eight-team knockout round. Players received increasingly larger monetary prizes for each round their teams advanced to, peaking at $500,000 for every player and coach for winning the championship. In that championship, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109. LeBron James was named the inaugural tournament MVP.
After initial dismissal of the idea of the In-Season Tournament, more and more basketball fans began to come around to liking it. Even players like Kevin Durant were skeptical at first, but expressed appreciation for it. However, I do believe there was a moment that caused that catalyst for an uptick in care. Flash back with me to November…
At the very onset of a group play game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, Jaden McDaniels and Klay Thompson got into a skirmish. Rudy Goober Gobert attempted to break it up, and that’s when notorious menace Draymond Green decided to pour accelerant on the fire. Green put Gobert in a chokehold reminiscent of the “Million Dollar Dream,” by the WWE’s Ted, getting ejected from the game (where the score was 0-0, at the time) and being suspended for the next five.
Alongside questioning what may or may not be wrong with Draymond, the talk around the In-Season Tournament started to focus on this is that players were playing harder than they normally would in a regular season without it. Sure, extra money is always a motivator for most people—even millionaires.
But professional athletes also carry a level of competitiveness that speed then to fully tap into their talent to be pro athletes in the first place. What that means is, most players will compete because competition (read: not wanting to be embarrassed in front of people) drives them in a way most people just don’t care as much. So for the In-Season Tournament to see a spike in interest after a scuffle, which is frowned upon, there is only one conclusion: Draymond Green deserves a check.
The attendance numbers bear it out. The NBA had one of its highest November attendance totals ever, including a 20 percent increase in ESPN viewership from last year. Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas broke down the splits on his live podcast, and they coincide with the shift in the chatter about the In- Season Tournament.
The use of scuffles as promotion isn’t new across sports, including the NBA. Whenever the Lakers and Celtics play, there is usually a montage of games from the 80s, including the moment Kurt Rambis got clotheslined by Kevin McHale. Maybe the NBA can rescind a fine or two of Draymond’s as a way to acknowledge that he at least had a significant hand in corroborating the narrative that this tournament brought out more care and effort in players. I don’t know why pushing and shoving is an indicator of more care, but that’s sports for you.
On another note, if the NBA sticks with the In-Season Tournament, it’ll still be a project that will take years to really reach its potential. The 2023 version will not be what the 2030 version will be, for example. Remember, the NBA itself was on tape delay in the 1980s. Growth takes time, even in our inpatient and microwavable society.
Commissioner Adam Silver has a good idea on his hands that while it needs a little tweaking, can turn into something that’s an even bigger event then it was. The journey of the In-Season Tournament is a marathon. If a marathon runner was sprinting from Mile One, the idea would be that kind of pace is unsustainable. Yet no one who sees a marathon runner at a steady pace believes they’re not running hard. This is also true if the NBA’s regular season. If the goal is to play well and well into the postseason, the effort given during the season is what is required to make it there. So when the courts return to normal, and there isn’t discussion about a $500,000 prize, don’t allow the idea the players aren’t playing hard to regain momentum. It’s not true in a league-wide sense. Sure, it happens. But we also acknowledge the postseason is and should be a different intensity. Players play hard, tournament or not.