Trae Young got honest about the first-ever In-Season Tournament on his latest podcast episode, complimenting the competitiveness of the tournament and saying that the Lakers winning it was the best outcome for the league.
“Having the Lakers win it all is always going to be great for the league, that’s a big brand. Them winning the first one is great for the In-Season Tournament from a competitive aspect. You can tell there’s a difference in intensity level from those games to regular season games. The league did a great job of making it a cool vibe and getting people interested in it.”
Trae explains why Lakers winning the in-season tournament is good for the NBA 🏆
(via From the Point with @TheTraeYoung) pic.twitter.com/gw999bBKk8
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 11, 2023
The Lakers are the biggest brand in basketball while LeBron James is easily the most recognizable active NBA player in the world. The Lakers winning the first-ever In-Season Tournament was the best outcome for the NBA, which is why fans have accused the league of rigging it in LA’s favor at times.
LeBron was sensational throughout the tournament, Anthony Davis had one of his most dominant career games in the Final, and the Lakers shut down the best offense in the NBA by beating the Pacers to win it all.
The Lakers will also be unfurling a banner to commemorate being the inaugural In-Season Tournament champions, one that’ll see any future tournament wins added to the existing banner instead of giving them individual banners like their championships.
Should The NBA Change The Incentive For The Winners?
The only thing that the teams were fighting over this year was the right to be called the first-ever In-Season Tournament champions and the $500K each player on the winning team will receive.
The financial incentive is massive but it won’t move the needle for the veterans that are on massive contracts. However, it did seem like the entire Lakers camp wanted to win the money for their two-way players as well as other youngsters still on rookie contracts or veteran minimums.
The NBA won’t jack the prize money up now that it seems like players around the league were motivated to compete for it. But as the novelty of the tournament wears off, it’ll be hard for the league to keep people engaged. That is why people want additional stakes to be added, like a guaranteed playoff seed.
In my opinion, the tournament is great as it is. Guaranteeing a playoff spot for a team that wins a December tournament is just not a good competitive move, as it could ruin the intrigue around the playoffs later in the season. If a team like the Pacers won and guaranteed themselves the seventh seed for the play-in tournament in December and proceeded to crash down the standings, it wouldn’t create a good competitive balance for the postseason.
The league will find a way to keep its players engaged, but a guaranteed playoff spot may be a little too valuable to hand out with four months of the regular season still left.
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