As one of the most progressive and innovative sports leagues in the world, the NBA is always doing what it can to maximize the interest and viewership of its product.
Just in the past few years alone, several schedule adjustments have been made to address issues with regular-season play. Even now, some analysts and experts are proposing new ideas that could help NBA basketball become more competitive game after game.
Speaking on SiriusXM NBA Radio this week, Justin Termine proposed the idea of incentivizing winning in the regular season by offering an award for the team with the best record.
“I love the idea of hanging out an award for the best record during the regular season. I love it. To me, it’s the best way to increase the importance of the regular season. Now, I’m not a fan of the mid-season tournament, but l love this: we should celebrate regular-season success. A trophy is just the start to me and I don’t know if they have any plans. Maybe teams could hang banners for it, maybe teams could have a massive sum of money in order to incentivize the players. If you finished with the best record, we are going to give you almost the same amount of money we would give you for winning an NBA championship. That way, guys are fighting and clawing because every game is important. I think that’s the biggest issue with the sport right now. We love what’s going on in April, May, and June. We love talking about the MVP and who’s gonna win that. Guys try for that. The issue is trying to get all 12 guys to care about the regular season on a roster, to not take nights off, to care about having the best record…”
"That's what I want, go all in"
🏀@TermineRadio is loving the idea of a regular season champion pic.twitter.com/jDjOF7Djom
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 6, 2022
Can Regular A Season Reward Increase The Overall NBA Product?
It’s hard to deny some of Termine’s points here. While the thought of a regular-season award seems silly at first, giving the team with the best record a huge financial reward may just be the best way to increase the intensity of the least important games.
Then again, coming up with enough money to make a real difference for these players (many of which are millionaires) is no easy feat, and it’s something that has already been suggested for the mid-season tournament.
The league office is apparently working on adding an in-season tournament that could be added to the schedule as soon as the 2023-24 season. NBA Insider Shams Charania recently dropped the details on Twitter.
Current framework of NBA In Season Tournament as soon as 2023-24, per sources:
– Cup games through November
– 8 teams advance to single-elimination Final in December; other 22 continue with regular season
– All games part of normal 82-game schedule; one extra for two Final teams
All of this comes on the back of the success of the play-in tournament, which has added an exciting element to the NBA’s lower-seeded playoff picture.
We already know that more tournaments are on the way, and only time will tell us what they add (or take away) from the NBA fan experience.
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