"We not quite sold": Paul George affirms league stars' unease with In-Season tournament
Paul George and all NBA players will experience something new for the first time next season. The In-Season Tournament will be unveiled by the league in the hopes of making the games even more exciting and popular.
Reactions from players have somewhat been divided. Some thought it would be great for the NBA while others found it a little too much added to their plate. “PG-13” had this to say about the new format:
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“It’s interesting. Talking around the league, we not quite sold on this in-season tournament thing. But, it’s gonna make the full season that much more competitive, especially with the schedule that they gave us. It is what it is.
“They’re just throwing a lot to our schedule. We [Clippers] travel 3,000 miles more than any team. That’s sick! Most back-to-backs, most three out of four-day games."
The inaugural In-Season competition will open on Nov. 3. The teams are divided into three six groups, three from each conference. Only eight teams will advance to the next round. The Knockout Round will consist of the top teams from each group and two “wild card” teams.
Single-elimination games in the quarters will be from Dec. 4-5. The semifinals (Dec. 7) and the championship (Dec. 9) will be played in Las Vegas.
If Paul George’s team wins the first In-Season Tournament, each LA Clippers player gets $500,000 each. Players on the losing team will settle for $200,000 each. The semifinalists and quarter-finalists get $100,000 and $50,000 each, respectively.
The NBA will roll out the said competition as a trial run. Changes could come in the second season of the tournament as more sponsors could join. Scheduling difficulties could also be addressed once the initial experiment is over.
The new In-Season Tournament is NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s project. It took nearly a decade for it to happen. Silver is willing to scrap it if it doesn’t pan out well but the league isn’t likely to abandon it after one trial run.
Paul George is looking forward to the competition
Despite not being completely sold to the In-Season Tournament, Paul George is still thrilled to compete. Regardless of the scheduling and the number of flight hours, here’s what he had to say about playing in the said competition:
“I’m looking forward to it. We’re in a competitive group, with Houston, Dallas, with Denver and the Pelicans. It’s a competitive group. All of these teams are good.
"Obviously, Denver the champions, Houston revamped their roster, threw in a couple of veterans there [and] Pelicans is a rising team. And then Dallas. We’ve had a huge history with them. It’s gonna be huge.”
With the unveiling of the new format, Paul George and all the players will have more and bigger incentives to compete. No one will be on autopilot to finish the regular season with the introduction of the NBA Cup.