The NBA’s in-season tournament began on Friday night, and you can consider an ESPN employee among those who aren’t excited.
On Friday’s edition of Pardon The Interruption, Michael Wilbon railed against the in-season tournament, which will see eight teams — four from each conference — advance to the knockout round, culminating in a Dec. 9 championship game in Las Vegas, where the winner will be awarded the inaugural NBA Cup.
Offering prize money of over $500,000 per player, comparable to what the Denver Nuggets earned for winning last year’s championship, should motivate teams to play their best. This could help to reduce concerns about “load management,” which has frustrated fans and television networks alike.
But Wilbon was frustrated for other reasons, it seems, as he evoked ‘Old man yells at cloud’ energy. Normally, Frank Isola is supposed to be the cynical one, but Wilbon took a turn wearing that hat and leaning into an argument that it’s a cash grab rather than a hidden gem.
It's safe to say that Michael Wilbon isn't excited for the NBA's in-season tournament. pic.twitter.com/tNaBo8nN3o
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2023
“I’ll give you a couple of reasons,” said an emphatic Wilbon. “It’s already supposed to count, Frank. It’s a game on the schedule. These aren’t separate games. It’s a game on the schedule you’re paying good money to see. Players are being paid to play these, and now you’re telling me, I’m gonna assign something else. Speaking of our obsession with analytical junk. So, I’m gonna assign something phony to it, let the marketing people run my league. The marketing people are gonna say to you, ‘Go watch this game, we’re gonna assign it an extra value, so then we can give people orange slices and trophies at the end of it.’
“If it’s supposed to matter, Frank, let it matter. I don’t need a stupid trophy and orange slices.”
Isola tried to explain to Wilbon that his feeling on this is because he has a basketball court in his house with an NBA logo on it; he loves the league. The NBA is trying to attract fans during the football season, especially during the week on non-traditional football days.
“You’re a big international guy,” said Isola, in response to Wilbon. “You fly all over the world. You’re usually seated in seat 1A. You know how it works in soccer — and these things are about winning trophies. You know if your buddy, Michael Jordan, was playing, he’d be sitting in the locker room today, saying, ‘We’re gonna win the inaugural NBA cup. And you know what we’re gonna do? Then, we’re gonna finish with the best record in the league, and then we’re gonna win the championship.’ And what’s gonna happen? One year, there’s gonna be a team that wins all 3 and that’ll be something for everybody to shoot for.
“Mike, it’s not extra games. So, you’re putting a little bit more emphasis at the start of the season on regular season games.”
In taking a shot at the modern-day NBA players, Wilbon said that Jordan was saying that anyway about regular season games.
“He didn’t need a phony cup,” Wilbon said. “He didn’t need a THEFT from soccer. This is to satisfy all the under-40 soccer heads…Frank, I know it’s gonna work. I didn’t say it wasn’t smart. It is smart. It’s a straight lift, so it can get a whole generation of kids that might go, ‘Ehh, I don’t know, I’m watching [the] Champions League.’ They’re gonna pull some of those kids away. It’ll work. It’s a marketing ploy. That’s all it is. It may be genius. I’m cynical. I’m like, stop it. Don’t try to tell me it means something additional, ’cause it doesn’t.”
"This is to satisfy all the under-40 soccer heads." pic.twitter.com/m7jUjmCjXs
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2023
Adam Silver and the NBA are trying to make these games in November and December matter. Relatively speaking, it’s hard to get the average fan — and those who prioritize football — to care about the NBA prior to Christmas Day. At the same time, while Wilbon thinks it’s a smart play, he views it as a marketing ploy to appease under-40 soccer heads. And that’s all that really needs to be said about his argument.
“Let’s convince all you dopes that these games are special,” Wilbon added. “No, it’s a Wednesday night in Milwaukee. That’s what it is.”
Well, this is the first season of it, so let’s wait and see before we anoint it anything.
