This year, the NBA has changed things up a bit thanks to a new play-in tournament that determines the seventh and eighth seeds of the playoffs. Last year, there was a play-in round in the Orlando bubble, however, it was only for the eighth and final seed. This new format makes it so that a total of three extra games are played per conference, which helps the league bring in more revenue and ratings. The Lakers Vs. Warriors game from Wednesday night did huge numbers for ESPN, so it shouldn't be surprising that commissioner Adam Silver would want the play-in to continue long-term.
While speaking on ESPN radio today, Silver got to speak about the future of the play-in tournament and whether or not it's something that the players want. For now, the teams are all on board and even the players have expressed enthusiasm over it. However, some have concerns about the fairness of a play-in round, which is something the league is looking to rectify.
Future Of The Play-In Tournament">Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Per Adam Silver:
"I haven't made any secret that I want it to be [around long term]. I have two constituencies I need to convince of that. One is the 30 teams, and I think for the most part they've supported it. Again, I understand the sentiment if I were a team -- a 7-seed in particular -- the notion [that] after a long season, you could potentially play out of the playoffs. I understand those feelings. I think at the same time, the teams recognize the amount of additional interest we've created over the last month of the season plus those play-in games make it worth it.
"Of course, the other constituency is the players. For example, one player, who is on the executive committee of the union, said to me yesterday that he really likes the play-in tournament but he felt it could potentially be a bit unfair. For example, if you were the seventh seed and you were a significant number of games ahead of the 8-seed, the notion that you could somehow lose two games and be out of the playoffs seems unfair."
It's probably going to take a lot of deliberation before the NBA comes to a concrete decision on the matter although for now, fans should expect to see the play-in tournament for years to come.
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[Via]