This Friday evening, The National Basketball Association will tip-off its new venture designed to bring more interest to the league in the early portion of the season. A new venture designed to pique more interest in the early portion of the NBA season. It is the kick of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
The In-Season Tournament is the league’s
new annual competition that will provide the players and teams to compete for
an in-season title while giving fans a chance to engage the NBA in a new way
and bring up the interest in the early part of the regular season during a time
where collegiate football and the National Football League (NFL) have
traditionally dominated the sports landscape during this time of the year.
The NBA’s In-Season Tournament kicks off
this Friday, Nov. 3 with games scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays in the month
of November up to Nov. 28, with the only exception of this upcoming Tuesday,
Nov. 7 (Election Day). Each of the 30 NBA squads playing four designated “Group
Play” games on “Tournament Nights” of as mentioned Tuesdays and Fridays this
month. Each team will play one game against each opponent in their respective
group with each squad getting two games at home and two games on the road.
All 30 NBA teams were placed into a group
by randomly being drawn into groups of five within their conference based on
each team’s win-loss mark from the 2022-23 regular season campaign.
Before each group was put together, they
were placed into a “pot” that was based on each squads record from the 2022-23
season where one team was randomly selected into each of the three groupings in
both the Eastern and Western Conference. Pot 1 had the squads with the three
best records from this past season in a conference. Pot 2 had the teams that
registered the fourth to the sixth best marks in a conference all the way down
to Pot 5
In Season Tournament Groups
Eastern Conference
East Group A East Group B East Group C
Atlanta Hawks Charlotte Hornets Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Miami Heat Brooklyn Nets
Detroit Pistons Milwaukee Bucks Chicago Bulls
Indiana Pacers New York
Knicks Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers Washington Wizards
Toronto Raptors
Western Conference
West Group A West Group B East Group C
Los Angeles Lakers
Dallas Mavericks Golden State Warriors
Memphis Grizzlies Denver
Nuggets Minnesota Timberwolves
Phoenix Suns Houston
Rockets Oklahoma City
Thunder
Portland Trail Blazers Los
Angeles Clippers
Sacramento Kings
Utah Jazz New
Orleans Pelicans San
Antonio Spurs
The In-Season Tournament Games For the
three groups in the Eastern Conference will tip-off beginning with Group A
contest this Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. Group B games will tip-off also on Friday
at 7:30 p.m., while Group C games will get underway at 8 p.m.
In the Western Conference, Group contest
will begin with Group A and B games tipping off this Friday, Nov. 3 at 10 p.m.,
while the squads in West Group C will tip-off at 8 p.m.
All four games for each of the NBA squads
will count toward the regular season standings. That means the games still
count towards each team’s 82-game regular season schedule.
The only NBA games that will be played on
Tournament Night in November will be Group Play games, with at double-header nationally
televised on Friday Nov. 3rd, 10th, 17th and
24th on ESPN. TNT will have a twin-bill of games on Tuesdays, Nov.
14th, 21st, and 28th. NBATV will broadcast
In-Season Tournament contests on Nov. 24 between the Celtics versus the Magic
at 2:30 p.m. followed by the tilt between the Suns versus the Grizzlies at 5
p.m.
Eight teams will advance to the Knockout
Rounds with the teams that register the best record in the games in Group Play
in each of the six groupings and two “wild card” teams from the Eastern and
Western Conference. The “wild card” will be the squad from each conference that
compiles the best record in Group Play that finished No. 2 in its group.
In the event two or more teams are tied
within a group, the tie among the teams will be broken according to the
following tiebreakers.
The Following Tiebreakers
-Head-To-Head Record In The Group Stage.
In The Event Two Or More -Point Differential In The Group Stage.
Teams Are Tied Within A -Total Points Scored In The Group
Stage.
Group -Regular Season Record From The
2022-23.
-Random Drawing (In The Scenario That Two Or More
Teams Are Still Tied Following The Previous
Tiebreakers.
The eight teams that advance to the
Knockout Round, which is single-elimination contests in the Quarterfinals on
Dec. 4 and 5.
The Semifinals on Dec. 7 and the
Championship Game on Dec. 9 (ABC) at the home of the defending Stanley Cup champion
Las Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, NV.
The winning team will receive the Tournament
Cup as well as $500,000 for each player on the winning team as well as the head
coach. The losing team in the championship game will receive $200,000 for each
player. The players on the Semifinalists squads will receive $100,000 for each
player and head coach and the Quarterfinalists will take home $50,000 for each
player and head coach. The assistant coaches will have a prize pool that will
pay them 75 percent of what their head coaches earn.
Each of the 30 NBA squads entering the
2023-24 NBA campaign had two games labeled “To Be Determined (TBD)” on their
schedule. All teams will play two regular-season games, which includes the
In-Season Tournament Quarterfinals and Semifinals for those that qualify during
the week of Dec. 4. The 22 teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Stage of
the Tournament will play two regular-season games during the Tournament’s off
nights of that week on Dec. 6 and 8. The four teams that lose in the
Quarterfinals will play a regular-season contest on Dec. 8.
The Championship Game is the only contest
during the In-Season Tournament that will not count towards a team’s regular
season schedule.
The home team during games of the
In-Season Tournament will have a special court with the championship cup in the
middle of the hardwood and half parts of the championship cup going from the
middle of the hardwood to the foul line on each end.
All In-Season Tournament tilts will be
played in each NBA squad’s city except for the Semifinals and Championship
contest, where both games will be held at the home of the NHL’s defending
Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Nights of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
Along with the special courts for the home
team during the In-Season Tournament, the home team will be debuting their “Nike
City Edition Uniforms,” which represent the stories, history, and heritage that
distinguishes the uniqueness of each of the 30 NBA franchises.
How major is this In-Season Tournament to
the NBA, the anthem that was debut ahead of the first games of the tournament
and will open every tournament night through the aforementioned Championship
contest on Dec. 9 is reimagined song of the Grammy Award-winning 1991 single ‘Mama
Said Knock You Out’ by two-time Grammy-Winning Rapper, Billboard Music Award winner;
Three-time Soul Train Music Award winner, hip-hop icon, actor, author, and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Rock The Bells LL Cool J and three-time Grammy Award-winning
group “The Roots.”
“I’ve been a fan of the NBA ever since I can remember, and it’s a real honor to have my record serving as the anthem for this monumental moment,” LL Cool J said in a statement on Nov. 3. “I’m excited to see the energy of the song translate to the play on the court during the NBA In-Season Tournament.”
The NBA in the lead up to the In-Season Tournament
had a commercial done in short-film form entitled “The Heist” that featured
seven NBA All-Stars in Anthony Davis of the Lakers; DeMar DeRozan of the Bulls;
Draymond Green of the Warriors; Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers; Julius Randle of
the Knicks; Darius Garland of the Cavaliers; Trae Young of the Hawks; and
Emmy-Award winning actor from films like “Godfellas” and the television show “The
Sopranos,” Michael Imperioli as “The Mastermind.”
The short-film, created in conjunction
with creative agency Translation, and directed by Karim Hu, displays the seven All-Stars
in an elaborate scheme to try to steal the first-ever NBA Cup. The film is set
in a Las Vegas casino that begins with Imperioli hatching a plot for “something
that’s never been done before-30 teams, one NBA cup.
“THE HEIST showcases the NBA’s newest
annual tradition to fans through a fun and familiar story arc,” NBA Chief
Marketing Officer Tammy Henault said back in late October. “The film introduces
the tournament framework through the lens of an elaborate heist, ultimately ushering
in this new competition that will add yet another layer of energy and
excitement to the NBA calendar.”
As the plan is unfurled, the seven NBA
stars are introduced, with each player with their own technique to attempt to
grab the cup for their respective team.
Davis, in the role of “The Heavy,” is sitting
at a blackjack table and flips a three-of-clubs card toward the In-Season
Tournament bracket-a nod to his No. 3 jersey that he dawns for the Lakers.
In the distance, DeRozan, in the role of “The
Sly Guy” is dressed in a nicely black and white suit, is traversing the casino
floor moving very lightly on his feet, similar to how he moves on the hardwood.
As DeRozan enters an elevator, he runs
into Young, in the role of “The Ice Man,” representing a, “guy with ice water
in his veins,” in reference to his sharp-shooting in clutch
moments of a game. When both players realize that they are after the same thing,
that is when chaos ensues.
As Imperioli continues his narration of
the short-film, Garland and Randle are introduced as “The Lookouts” that are
laser-focused lookouts that are hiding in plain sight in stylish automobiles
out front of the casino.
Disguised as a casino security guard, Green in the role of “The Vet: film is pushing a cart with the NBA Cup hidden inside. As Green navigates through security, into a kitchen and then into the casino lobby, he is picked up by an inside man in Leonard as “The Inside Man” and the other five aforementioned NBA stars looking to take the NBA Cup.
When the moment seems right for one of the
NBA stars to make “THE HEIST,” of the NBA Cup, it is revealed next to
Imperioli, stolen by the lead of the short-film himself. He turns to the
players and the camera and says, “Looks like you’ll all have to play for it,”
as the NBA stars take in their missed moment and come to the realization of the
fierce competition that lies ahead.
What the new In-Season Tournament is
really designed to do more than anything is recapture the interest of casual
fans or normally wait until the winter to really engage into the NBA when it is
35 to 40 games into the season because of college football and the National
Football League are at their height of their respective seasons.
It is also designed for the players to
have more engagement themselves, especially in the wake of all the load
management that has turned fans off to the game in recent seasons.
There are those that are skeptical about
this new venture of the league. But many had the same thoughts about the
Play-In Tournament when it was introduced in 2020-21. But what it did was give
teams hope that they can recover from a rough start to their season and still
have a chance to make the Playoffs, which has kept many teams engaged in the
season as supposed to possibly mailing it in to focus on the next season or
so-called “tank” to improve their odds in the NBA Draft.
At a time where it can take a lot to get
the viewing public, especially casual sports fans really be engaged in a
sporting event from start to finish, especially early in a league’s season and
when another league’s season in rocking and rolling, the NBA decided to do
something similar to what soccer leagues across the globe have done. Have an in-season
tournament. To have something that gets players, coaches, organizations, and
fans juices flowing for something new and exciting.
The NBA did something similar to this three
seasons ago when they introduced the Play-In Tournament. It had its detractors
but has been successful and the hope is that this In-Season Tournament will do
the same.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roots#Awards_and_nominations.
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