For Nets, NBA in-season tournament is 'something new' and a 'little wrinkle' and 'a blessing'
Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons dunks in the first half of against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 30, 2023. Credit: AP/Erik Verduzco
CHICAGO — Ben Simmons almost wasn’t sure how to feel about the start of the NBA’s new in-season tournament.
At United Center for shootaround, he and the Nets practiced on the Bulls’ new red court, one of several changes with the league’s newest idea. But as the tournament starts Friday, it’ll take some getting used to.
“We’re playing in-season tournament but we’re still in season,” Simmons said. “It’s a weird feeling, but we’ll experience it and see how it goes. But I mean we’re always ready to compete and get a win, so we’re excited.”
The way it works sounds simple on paper. The 30 teams are divided into six groups and each team plays four tournament games — two home, two road — on either Tuesday and Friday this month except for Election Day.
The Nets are in East Group C with the Bulls, Celtics, Magic and Raptors. The teams with the top record in each group, plus the two second-place teams with the best records, advance to the eight-team knockout rounds on Dec. 4-5. Las Vegas will host the semifinals and final on Dec. 7 and 9.
For teams eliminated before the knockout rounds, they’ll play regular-season games on Dec. 6 and 8 — one home and one away — and the teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play each other Dec. 7.
It’s an idea that’s heavily borrowed from European soccer leagues. Yet for those familiar with the NBA rhythm, it’s both intriguing and confusing.
“I haven’t really looked at the structure of pool play and all the other stuff,” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “But you know, overall, I mean, like I said, it’s about adding a little wrinkle. That’s always good for the fans. The court will be fun. Anything else we can do to keep entertaining the fans is what we should do.”
Added Simmons, “I mean, whenever you’re able to be a part of something new in the NBA, it’s a blessing. So it’s a great thing to be a part of, you know, especially being the first ones to be part of it.”
It’s a way to incentivize more interest in the regular season. The NBA is banking that it will catch on just as the play-in tournament did in 2020-21 after its initial run in the 2020 bubble.
The new courts, which have team colors and the NBA tournament trophy logo in the middle, are part of the tournament atmosphere. Home teams also will wear this season’s City Edition uniforms, which were unveiled this week.
Coach Jacque Vaughn said that while the tournament concept is new to him, it will be good for the game while adding something extra for the players to play for this early in the season. Dinwiddie believes it’ll help keep fans engaged and add more eyeballs to the league.
“We’ve got to keep finding new and inventive ways to improve our league,” he said. “And I think the NBA is one of the best in the world of doing so.”
Simmons also was on-board with the color schemes for each court. He didn’t like the red Bulls court, though, preferring the Nets’ court, which is mostly gray.
The tournament will be a new experience, but it’ll also take some adjusting. Simmons thinks everyone will adapt and be motivated starting Friday, yet it’s still secondary to the main priority of every team.
“End of day for us, championship is our goal,” Simmons said. “It’d be nice to win the tournament. But at the end of the day, the major goal is championship.”
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
