The NBA and ESPN announced plans to reveal details on the inaugural In-Season Tournament that the Association has planned for 2023.
On Wednesday, the league revealed its plan to make details known on ESPN’s NBA Today. The league made a special post on its Twitter account on the announcement.
The NBA’s announcement read, “Big news coming. Tune in Saturday, July 8, at 7:30 p.m./et for an ESPN NBA Today Special to announce the details of the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament, including dates, competitive structure, locations, trophy unveiling, and group drawings!”
Big news coming 👀
Tune in Saturday, July 8 at 7:30pm/et for an ESPN NBA Today Special to announce the details of the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament, including dates, competitive structure, locations, trophy unveiling and group drawings! pic.twitter.com/hNcMnbsHkg
— NBA (@NBA) July 5, 2023
The In-Season Tournament’s existence has sparked a lot of debate. NBA fans have wondered openly if the league is doing too much by having this tournament. NBA players already deal with a significant amount of wear and tear, which has become something of a taboo topic with ‘load management’ rising into the metroplex.
That said, the tournament provides an interesting dynamic for the league. You’d figure that the perfect look for this is how soccer/football tournaments happen across the pond in Europe and otherwise. There are reasons for those tournaments, and also a lot of other layers at play. So the NBA’s goal might be pretty ambitious.
It might be a risk worth taking, though, to spice things up during the season. An 82-game season is tough to stay alert for, especially if you’re a fan of a middling team or one that stands absolutely no chance.
[NBA]