The NBA has introduced a novel in-season tournament scheduled near the start of the season. The NBA season, known for its considerable length, often experiences lower ratings at the beginning of the year due to the relatively lower stakes involved. This tournament will take place from November 3rd to December 9th and, similar to the World Cup format, will include both a group stage and knockout rounds.
The group stage will feature six groups, each containing five teams selected randomly based on their performance from the previous year’s records. In this stage, every team will play two home games and two away games against the other four teams within their group. Upon the conclusion of these matches, the victor of each group will progress to the knockout stage, along with a wild card team selected from each conference. In case of ties in the group stage standings, tiebreakers will be determined as follows: head-to-head record, point differential, total points scored, and regular season record from the previous year.
The knockout stages will consist of single-elimination games leading up to the championship. Importantly, every game in this stage, except for the championship match, will count towards the teams’ regular 82-game season. The ultimate prize for the winner of this tournament will be the inaugural NBA Cup. The NBA has already implemented regulations to try to prevent players from resting when healthy. It will be intriguing to observe how this tournament unfolds from various perspectives. Hopes are high that this tournament will provide a the spark the NBA needs to keep fans entertained.
