Dear Commissioner Silver, the NBA’s Orlando restart needs the Elam Ending

“Meaningless” Seeding Games

In this situation, the NBA would utilize the Elam Ending by implementing it in specific, inconsequential matchups – or “meaningless” games – during the final eight seeding games before the playoffs. How does an NBA game come to be meaningless? In simple language, a game is meaningless when it has ZERO impact on seeding.

For example, on August 12 at 9 pm ET, the Denver Nuggets are slated to face the LA Clippers on ESPN. It is more likely than not that both teams will enter the game locked into their respective playoff seeds. This matchup represents a marquee opportunity for the NBA to use the Elam Ending in a low-risk, high-reward environment. Even if Kawhi Leonard, Paul George or Nikola Jokić don’t play the fourth quarter (or at all), the opportunity for a tense, exciting clash between two dynamic rosters ending on a guaranteed game-winner is unique, if not remarkable.

To help articulate: there’s a chance Bol Bol pins a shot to the backboard and calls ‘game’ on a pull-up three in transition, or Joakim Noah lets his finger Dracos sing akimbo after sealing the game from the elbow – on national television. In any scenario, the optics stand to end up sensational.

In February, Nick Elam was taken aback by the social media response to the conclusion of the All-Star Game. “I scrolled through Twitter, and I estimate that 90 percent of the feedback about the Elam Ending was positive. It’s hard to get 90 percent of the people on Twitter to speak positively about anything, so that is very encouraging,” he quipped. If those numbers are an accurate appraisal of the Elam Ending approval-rating, the opportunity to energize fans spanning all over the globe through further exposure could prove indispensable.

The Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers are two teams with the highest likelihood of playing in multiple “meaningless” games. If each club wins its first two seeding games, both will secure the 1-seed in their respective conference. In that instance, the remaining six games for both teams will have no impact on their final seeding. The two conference leaders are in similar scenarios, as each of their last three opponents on the seeding schedule possesses high odds of being locked into their seed.

For the Bucks, those games come against the Toronto Raptors (8/10 on ESPN), Washington Wizards (8/11), and Grizzlies (8/13), while the Lakers face off against the Indiana Pacers (8/8 on TNT), Nuggets (8/10 on TNT), and Sacramento Kings (8/13). Three of these contests are on national television. If LeBron James or Giannis Antetokuonmpo even suit up, it is highly unlikely either will be on the floor once the “meaningless” game is in crunch time. This dilemma presents an opportunity to realize the potential value of the Elam Ending’s intrigue and how it may serve as an ideal solution for retaining casual viewers. Will more fans watch if they know there will be a game-winner?

There are numerous games at the back end of the seeding schedule which fall under the umbrella of “meaningless,” thus offering the NBA a chance to experiment on a broad scale. More than that, by employing this utilization of the Elam Ending, the NBA could learn invaluable information about ways to use the format in the future, while also entirely preserving the sanctity of competition for the 2019-20 season.

Straying from the star-powered teams, the importance of maximizing all possible TV revenue (specifically in smaller or non-playoff markets) warrants further consideration for utilizing the Elam Ending during seeding games. The league, of course, wants to have as many fans from each bubble market engaged in every game their team competes. Implementing the Elam Ending into “meaningless” seeding games has the potential to negate some loss in viewership among TV markets of non-playoff teams.

As teams like the Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, and Washington Wizards are eliminated from playoff contention, installing the Elam Ending in their games may also provide an opportunity to visualize ways the format could incentivize long-term competition. The NBA has been open about exploring future iterations of in-season or playoff-seeding tournaments, and experimenting with the Elam Ending in the bubble would offer ample data for the league to consider when formulating and executing those decisions down the road.

If successful in Orlando, how would the NBA elect to utilize the Elam Ending in the future? A play-in tournament for playoff seeds? A non-playoff tournament to decide the NBA Draft order? There are some questions no one knows the answer to, and other questions no one has even posited.