NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been fascinated by in-season tournaments for a long time, especially in European soccer.
Now, the NBA will launch its own, starting this season, and details have emerged about the league’s plans, ESPN reports.
The final four of the tournament will be played in Las Vegas, a neutral site, on December 7 and 9, the sports network reported.
The full details of the tournament will be revealed on Saturday during an ESPN broadcast.
The NBA regular season opens in October. The end-of-season playoffs will still start in April, with the NBA Finals concluding in June. The finals winner receives the Larry O’Brien Trophy, named after the former NBA commissioner.
“I think the notion there was to take a page from international soccer, where there are other things to compete for, not just, in our case, the Larry O’Brien Trophy,” Silver said on NBA TV in June.
Every NBA team will participate, ESPN reported, with six groups established for pool and round-robin play. Each team will play four games.
“We’re actually taking a series of games, regular season games, and we’re designating those as tournament games,” Silver said on NBA TV. “Those games will count for both the regular season and this in-season tournament. The four teams that are still standing will come together and go to a neutral site. … And they will play for a separate trophy.”
Players had agreed to an in-season tournament in their new collective bargaining agreement earlier this year.
Silver discussed the tournament during an interview in April. He said it will look different visually, SI.com reported.
“The players will be wearing different uniforms,” Silver said was quoted as saying. “Maybe the court will look different. You’ll know that it’s not just a regular-season game.”
Statistics from all games will be counted except for the championship game, the NBA said previously. Players on the winning team reportedly will receive $500,000 each, Fox News reported.
The NBA has used a play-in tournament since 2020 to allow lower-finishing regular-season teams an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs.
