Why the NBA in-season tournament is a terrible idea
Can the NBA fix the tournament?
If the NBA were truly serious about reviving interest in the regular season, it would schedule fewer regular season games as opposed to staging a half-hearted, low-stakes World Cup. But for the wage thieves hyper capitalist NBA owners and the commissioner who caters to their whims, less is only considered when it’s time to pay the players what they’re worth.
After all, that second house/car/yacht/plane/doomsday bunker isn’t going to pay for itself, and a chance to do so with broadcast rights revenue with an overinflated mid-season tournament that fans are already mocking and criticizing.
https://twitter.com/RunItBackPhilly/status/1677833976143130624
My favorite part is “money for players on teams who choose to play” - they are well aware their is a possibility the top tier stars look at this entire tournament as rest. While it counts towards their record, don’t be surprised when stars sit out some of the games. The NBA has…
— Nintendo Prime (@NintyPrime) July 9, 2023
At some point, it becomes too much (while also not being enough from a promotional standpoint). Sure, plenty of diehard hoop’s fans will tune in for the tournament, but the goal should be to create something that will also turn the less-enthusiastic ones into avid viewers (at least as much as you can in this media climate) and a few designated games in November combined with a few more in December doesn’t meet that standard.
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Ultimately, the league made the right choice by framing this as a long-term project. Unfortunately, even that seems too optimistic. The actual basketball will probably be good, but if the NBA expects fans to treat this like it’s a big deal, they will be waiting a lot longer than they hoped.