Recently, NBA commissioner Adam Silver discussed the idea of a mid-season NBA tournament. This tournament, which sounds a lot like something out of the David Stern playbook, would be played in Las Vegas. The reason behind the idea of this tournament, as told by NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner, is because the NBA summer league attendance is up. Aschburner also went on to say:
“The popularity of the summer league in Las Vegas – with attendance up 25 percent, Silver said – has the league open to ideas for a greater role in the nation’s gambling capital. One possibility, mentioned without details as a brainstorm from the competition committee: A midseason tournament of some sort.”
The idea of a mid-season tournament is not unheard of. This type of tournament happens every season in the European Football (soccer) League. As well, everyone knows when David Stern was commissioner he wanted the NBA to be a more global game. The middle of the season has also been known as a dead zone for the sport. This tournament could happen but the NBA would need to make some moves to the schedule.
Presumably, the tournament would probably take 2 weeks from the season, and with the inclusion of this new tournament, the season doesn’t end until mid- July. The NBA already goes to June and I can’t imagine the league would want to go into July. The league would have to cut some games from the schedule for them to still end in June.
NBA would also have to consider giving more money to the players for this tournament. The season is already 82 games, add in the constant travel and that takes a toll on any player. Now, let’s add in this tournament. Players on the teams like the Cavs or Spurs that will more than likely make a big playoff push won’t want to play more games. Some of these players will have to play more than over 100 games in a 9 month period, increasing their chances of injuries. Can you imagine the outcry if LeBron James got injured because he played these extra games?
If the NBA wants this tournament bad, Adam Silver would need to shorten the schedule to make this work.