(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The NBA implemented a new idea this offseason, in-season tournaments. This is the league’s attempt to give the regular season more influence among teams. There have been other innovative attempts in recent years, one example being the play-in competition.
Load management and resting key players have been an issue for years, and the in-season tournament is designed to increase the competitiveness of the regular season and inspire players to care more. The in-season tournament consists of group stages and knockout rounds similar to the World Cup, and is held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The group competition kicked off last Friday and features City Edition jerseys with a special pitch to commemorate the game. The Los Angeles Lakers will play their first championship game on the road against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, November 10th.Lakers star LeBron James expressed his thoughts on the in-season tournament here Spectrum Sports Network:
“I haven’t been involved in it yet, I didn’t get a chance to watch last Friday. We had a team dinner in Orlando before the game and watched some footage and some of the courts looked a little funky. But, I think it’s great for the league , makes things more interesting. I did see some of the comments from some of the players and some of the games felt like a playoff atmosphere type of intensity. So, in that sense, it was pretty cool.”
As one of the league’s voices, James’ opinions have a powerful influence on what’s happening in the NBA. The four-time champion wasn’t in favor when the play-in tournament was announced, but seems optimistic this time around at the in-season tournament.
Los Angeles is placed in Western Conference Group A, which includes the Suns, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers will host the Grizzlies on November 14th at Crypto.com Arena before returning to the road against the Trail Blazers on November 17th. They then complete the group stage at home against the Jazz on November 21st.
It’s worth mentioning that all of these games count toward the regular season record, which adds some risk for the Lakers and other teams to compete and win these tournament games. The winning team will receive the NBA Cup and a bonus of $500,000 each, and whichever team wins it all will receive a sizable payday.
James offers positive news about Bronny’s recovery
James’ son Bronny suffered a health scare in July when he went into cardiac arrest during a workout at USC, shocking many. Luckily, LeBron has provided some good news about Bronny’s recovery and seems to be in good spirits since the incident.
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