The NBA In-Season Tournament created a lot of buzz during the offseason, with players on the fence about whether or not they were looking forward to playing in it, leading to a lot of negative energy looming around the tournament.
“It’s so early in the year, it just feels like another game… I guess we’ll see once we get into the arena what it’ll feel like,” Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams said.
Memphis Grizzlies point guard Marcus Smart added to the conversation.
“Being completely honest, nobody cares about [winning in-season tournament], it’s the big one that we care about,” Smart said. “I have mixed feelings on it, but it’s great to be able to play more basketball, and I think that’s more of it, just those more games for the fans.”
Although initial opinions about the In-Season Tournament were mixed, I think it’s fair to say that it was a huge success. Multiple games felt like playoff games, and it resembled the NCAA’s March Madness tournament, in the sense that there were plenty of upsets. Teams that were the favorites to win the championship were eliminated a lot earlier than fans would have assumed.
One of the best games was when the Phoenix Suns took on the Los Angeles Lakers. They were both deemed contenders by NBA analysts, and this game was almost like a preview of a potential playoff series, as Kevin Durant and LeBron James combined for 62 points.
However, the game ended with a very controversial call. With the Suns down two points in the final seconds, they trapped Austin Reaves on the baseline and stole the ball from him leading to an open layup. However, the referees stopped the game and said that the Lakers called a timeout before the turnover, and it was unclear whether or not they did. This was a huge controversy and was discussed on almost every big sports platform.
The championship game was played by the experienced Lakers squad vs. the young and exciting Indiana Pacers. The game was played in Las Vegas, giving nobody a home-court advantage, and was said to have had over 2.3 million viewers, which is huge for a non-playoff game.
Overall, the NBA got positive reviews about the tournament. It now seems as though the players themselves will start to take the tournament seriously moving forward, and if the players take it seriously, that means the fans will as well.
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