NBA in-season tournament

The NBA in-season tournament is a National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season tournament that will be first contested during the 2023–24 NBA season.

NBA in-season tournament
Tournament information
SportBasketball
Established2023
FormatKnockout tournament
Teams30 total; 3 per conference
Websitewww.nba.com/in-season-tournament/
Most recent tournament
2023 NBA in-season tournament

The tournament was officially announced on July 8, 2023 on NBA Today. The tournament will have a format similar to European soccer tournaments and the WNBA Commissioner's Cup. Each player on the winning team will receive $500,000;[1] the winning team will receive the NBA Cup.

History

On July 6, 2023, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the National Basketball Association would hold an in-season tournament which would take place from November 3 to December 9.[2]

The details of the 2023 tournament were revealed on July 8, including the group draws, and the announcement that the semi-finals and championship would take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.[3][4]

Format

The tournament will be in a similar format to in-season tournaments in European soccer. The tournament rules are as follows:[5][6]

  • Six intraconference groups of five (Three groups each in the Eastern and Western Conferences).
  • Tuesdays and Fridays during November will feature group games against each of the other teams in their pool (two at home and two on the road). These games will still count as regular season games.
  • Four teams from each conference advance to a single-elimination tournament: the three pool winners in addition to the group runner-up with the best record as a wild card.
  • The semifinals and final will be played in Las Vegas.
  • For the 2023 tournament, players on the champion team will each receive $500,000; runners-up will get $200,000. The players on the two losing teams in the semifinals will each get $100,000, and the players on the four losing teams in the quarterfinals will each get $50,000.[7]

Impact on the regular season

With the exception of the championship game, all games in the tournament will also be counted as regular season games.

To adjust for the differing number of games played by different teams, the NBA's regular season scheduling formula will be modified so only 80 games apiece for each team are initially announced prior to the beginning of the season, with the 81st and 82nd scheduled games occurring differently:[7]

  • The 22 teams that don't qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament will play two additional games, one at home and one on the road, against other teams eliminated prior to the knockout rounds. These games will occur around the time that the knockout tournament is concluding.
  • The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play one additional game, against each other, again around the time that the knockout tournament is concluding.

References
  1. "NBA goes bold with flashy announcement of In-Season Tournament". NBA.com. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  2. Rajan, Ronce (July 7, 2023). "NBA Today Special Episode to Announce 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament on ESPN". ESPN PR. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  3. "NBA In-Season Tournament to debut in 2023-24 season". NBA.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  4. "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  5. Quinn, Sam (April 9, 2023). "NBA in-season tournament: How the league reportedly plans to structure its new spectacle". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  6. Rohrbach, Ben (April 7, 2023). "NBA Fact or Fiction: Is the in-season tournament a good idea?". Yahoo!. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  7. Bontemps, Tim (2023-08-15). "What is the NBA in-season tournament? Format, schedule, groups". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
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