Report: NBA’s in-season tournament taking shape, could start for 2023-24 season

Report: NBA’s in-season tournament taking shape, could start for 2023-24 season

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-nba-in-season-tournament-taking-shape-could-start-for-2023-24-season-205408911.html

Ryan Young·Writer
Fri, September 9, 2022 at 4:54 PM·2 min read

The NBA’s new in-season tournament is starting to take shape, and it’s looking a lot like the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup.

The NBA may implement the new in-season tournament as early as the 2023-24 season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The format, which is still being determined, will include tournament games that run through November before the top eight teams advance to a single-elimination round in December. At that time, all other teams will continue on with the regular season.

All games will be part of the normal 82-game schedule, however the final two teams will end up playing 83 games.




It’s unclear what prize or incentives will be offered to teams. There has been talk about a potential $1 million per player prize for the winning team.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in February at the All-Star Game that, after seeing the play-in tournament succeed the way it did, he was open to new ideas — including this in-season tournament.

“Related to that, to me, in terms of trying new things, then does it make sense to look at some other concepts we’ve talked about, like an in-season tournament,” Silver said, via The Athletic. “In some ways, the players have been more receptive to the possibility of an in-season tournament, because the Play-In has been a bit more successful.”

The Las Vegas Aces won the WNBA’s second-ever Commissioner’s Cup this season, which earned each player on their roster a $30,000 bonus. The 10 games leading up to the final were played normally as part of the regular season.