Let the following be my very best attempt to explain what this ‘tournament’ actually is… as a preface, no, you’re not missing anything, it’s an entirely artificial affair (though, to be fair, so is all of sports). 

For most intents and purposes, the NBA regular season will rumble along in typical fashion throughout the month of November. Each team will play their usual 12-15 games, each in the customary stadiums, and they will each count towards their final record in ordinary one-unit intervals. None of the pomp and circumstance which will be outlined in the paragraphs below affects this fundamental reality in any concrete capacity. If you walk away from this article believing that these in-season tournament games are no different from any other regular season contests (aside from being played on extravagantly festooned hardwoods), then you will have walked away with a perfectly firm understanding. 

Now, if you are willing to buy into the arbitrarily decreed importance of these games, we may proceed. After all, what great value does a postseason tournament have other than that which we collectively ascribe to it? If we (and the players) choose to dismiss this in-season tournament, it will be dismissed, but, likewise, if we work to embrace it, and teams approach it with commensurate intensity, then it absolutely may achieve the elevated importance it aspires toward. As between the players and fans, I’m not yet sure whose investment follows from the other’s, but my entreaty here is that we not be the obstacle to consequentiality.

 So, with no further delay, the NBA in-season tournament games will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays, beginning today and ending on November 28th. There will still be games played on every other day of the week, and those games do not count toward the in-season tournament. Every team in the league has been placed in one of six groups, each consisting of five teams. 

Western Conference Group A: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Trail Blazers

Western Conference Group B: Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks, Rockets

Western Conference Group C: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder, Spurs

Eastern Conference Group A: 76ers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pacers, Pistons

Eastern Conference Group B: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards, Hornets

Western Conference Group C: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls, Magic

The teams within the groups will all play each other exactly one time between now and November 28th, on Tuesdays and Fridays, completing a perfect round robin. These four games will still count as regular season games (just one win or one loss towards your end of season record), but they will separately be tracked as part of the Group Stage for this in-season tournament. The teams which finish atop their respective Groups will then advance to a final bracket, which we’ll discuss shortly. Ties within groups will be determined first by head-to-head record, then by point differential. The two best-performing second place teams, one from each conference, will be named ‘Wild Cards’ and move on to the final bracket as well. Ties for Wild Card spots will be broken by point differential. 

Now, for the final bracket… bear with me. The eight qualifying teams will be seeded 1-8, like March Madness, and will play a single elimination tournament. 

The Quarterfinals (first round) will be played on December 4th and 5th. These games will still count towards the NBA regular season. To make sure nobody plays extra games throughout the course of the season, the 22 teams which do not qualify for the bracket will be mixed and matched for a single regular season game to be played on December 6th. 

The Semifinals will be played on December 7th. These games will also still count towards the NBA regular season. Again, to ensure nobody plays extra games, the 22 teams which did not qualify and the 4 teams which were eliminated in the Semifinals will be mixed and matched for a single regular season game to be played on December 8th. 

The Championship will be played on December 9th, in a special stadium in Las Vegas. This is the only game of the in-season tournament which will not count toward the NBA regular season. I don’t know why they did this – why make the championship *less* directly significant than the other games??? Still, it is the case. Hopefully teams will take it seriously.

The winner of the Championship gets a trophy and a lot of prize money! Each player and coach on the winning team will be given something in the neighborhood of $500,000. Smaller sums of money will be awarded to the players/coaches on teams finishing in 2nd-8th place.

There are no other consequences to the in-season tournament. It has no extra bearing on the final standings or playoff picture. It is its own entity, endeavoring for stakes and significance in and of itself. I hope it works! 

🙂