(Photo by Andrew Lahodynskyj/Getty Images)
The NBA’s In-Season Tournament has been a good idea thus far.
While some players like DeMar DeRozan or Andre Drummond might not be fans of the point differential thing, the fact that the players are actually competing hard in the regular season at this point in the year has been a pleasant surprise.
It seems like the cash prize and a weekend in Las Vegas have really motivated the players to go all-out in these games, and it’s a much better look for the league than having healthy stars sitting out games just for the sake of it.
However, according to Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, it doesn’t really matter how the players feel about the tournament as much as how the fans feel, and he hopes they’re enjoying the product (via HoopsHype).
Kevin Durant on the In-Season Tournament: “It’s not really how we feel. It’s really about how the consumer feels about what they see and, you know, hopefully they enjoy it.” pic.twitter.com/BOQhJocSur
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) November 30, 2023
Of course, that’s easy to say when you’ve been one of the highest-paid players in the league for the better part of a decade, but for the average player, that prize money is actually a lot.
On the other hand, the fact that the league had to offer even more money for the players to actually care about regular-season games is quite disappointing.
NBA players make more in a year than the average person in a decade, and they’re getting paid to actually play.
Hopefully, they won’t tone down the intensity after the In-Season Tournament is over, but judging by how teams have dealt with the regular season over the past couple of years, that’s most likely going to be the case.
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