Dame and Anthony Davis both come out in support of wanting the in season tourney win.

[Kblaze8855]

With pretty good reason.

Dame:




"You got guys on two-way contracts who are trying to earn a stay and that prize in the end could change their family's lives."





Davis




$500 [thousand] sounds real good to us. It’s going to bring that juice, you know what I mean? … I heard one of our players, I’m not going to say who but he was like, ‘Man,’ when we beat Phoenix, ‘That’s one step closer to this $500. I’ve never had that before.’ So it’s like, that’s a little extra motivation.”





I actually didn’t realize it was that much per player. I thought the whole team split like a million. Looking at the rosters…the Bucks have a good number of guys who half a million would really be major. It doesn’t matter to he and Giannis types(well Giannis is cheap so it probably does) but those guys who make 250-350 or so all year after taxes? Half a million at once changes life. There are two way guys like he mentioned who may not even make real nba money. It’s good money but not so much you can live on it if you get hurt.

They might all actually go hard when the last few games arrives.

Some goon role player might be hunting ankles.

[rawimpact]

One player on a contender with a season ending injury is what it will take if they really do start playing real ball.

The cost-benefit just isnt there if you are a starter on a contending team.

[SATAN]

$500 [thousand] sounds real good to us. It’s going to bring that juice, you know what I mean?

Followed up by 9 points and getting completely owned by Sabonis

[sdot_thadon]

Yeah I heard Lebron mention that in an interview recently, so the cash bonus is I guess a good lure for the guys to play hard in these games. Some have actually been competitive though, I've always thought money would be a solution for the allstar game woes and dunk contest participation. What I really want to see is how much is this tournament going to matter going forward. Will guys'resumes be: 2 time NBA champ, 3 time tournament winner etc? I know the deal here will be the usual if my guy wins it, it matters. If someone I hate wins it, it's a joke or it's overrated.

[eliteballer]

They need to give the fans more incentive to care about this than "rich people playing for more money".

[Real Men Wear Green]

One player on a contender with a season ending injury is what it will take if they really do start playing real ball.

The cost-benefit just isnt there if you are a starter on a contending team.

Then it's not there for any game because almost the whole thing is part of the regular season.

[Real Men Wear Green]

They need to give the fans more incentive to care about this than "rich people playing for more money".

Has there been any data to show that this is a success or a failure so far?

[sdot_thadon]

They need to give the fans more incentive to care about this than "rich people playing for more money".

It's the 1st run for it, what more do you need them to do?

[Kblaze8855]

They need to give the fans more incentive to care about this than "rich people playing for more money".

It’s all just what the league decides to assign value to. It’s too new for fans to care. Super Bowl 1 had 30 thousand empty seats. They aren’t gonna judge this off how you feel today. They’re trying to make it like the euro tournaments teams care about despite not being a league title.

It’s gonna require years of tradition and a whole new generation who comes of age with it. We aren’t the target audience.

[eliteballer]

It’s all just what the league decides to assign value to. It’s too new for fans to care. Super Bowl 1 had 30 thousand empty seats. They aren’t gonna judge this off how you feel today. They’re trying to make it like the euro tournaments teams care about despite not being a league title.

It’s gonna require years of tradition and a whole new generation who comes of age with it. We aren’t the target audience.

It’s not just about time and tradition, there needs to be a functional purpose within the framework of the season. You play regular season games to make the playoffs, you play in the postseason to win the championship which is the measure of the best team in the given year. Just picking some games in the regular season and calling it a tournament serves no functional purpose.

[Phoenix]

So is the incentive for the role players making ( by NBA standards) minimum money to play more/hard, or is the incentive for the stars making 40 million to play more/hard for the aforementioned role players to get a nice payday? Because 500k to someone like AD making 60m a year is like a slow weekend in Vegas.

Sorry I just had a rude boy tonic wine and it's kicking in more than usual so you'll have to excuse me if the point is flying overhead.

[PeroAntic]

European football has a league and cup competition, so its another trophy that a team could win which counts to its cabinet. As long as players take it seriously, I dont know why fans are complaining. And its actually good that it gives role players a bigger role through finiancial incentives. I think its a great idea.

[Phoenix]

I would imagine teams ( especially ones who are legit title contenders) are going to place lower priority on winning an inter-season tourney in service of going for a chip. I guess we'll have to see how it plays out in the end in terms of striking that balance.

[highwhey]

the first tourney will always be the most desired though. i wonder if the following seasons will be as competitive. think it was frank vogel speaking to the team talking about how some guys are using the desire to win the first ever in-season tourney as motivation.

[SouBeachTalents]

It’s all just what the league decides to assign value to. It’s too new for fans to care. Super Bowl 1 had 30 thousand empty seats. They aren’t gonna judge this off how you feel today. They’re trying to make it like the euro tournaments teams care about despite not being a league title.

It’s gonna require years of tradition and a whole new generation who comes of age with it. We aren’t the target audience.
My only disagreement with that analogy is the Super Bowl became the championship game within a couple of years, and I could see the appeal of seeing the winner of the two leagues facing each other. The in-season tournament will ALWAYS pale in comparison to the playoffs, and I honestly don't see anything the league can do to change that perception. eliteballer is 100% right, the players getting extra money will does nothing from the fans perspective.

Also, I've seen people constantly bring up the soccer comparison. My understanding is when it's a soccer in season tournament, teams are facing each other who rarely, if ever play one another, so that alone provides a clear distinction. With this you're still getting the same 30 teams that have been playing each other every night for decades :lol It's frankly an asinine comparison.

I know fans are usually resistant to change, but this still seems as meaningless and completely unnecessary as it did when they started floating the idea years ago. It just doesn't work, and i can't envision a scenario where it does.

[Real Men Wear Green]

My only disagreement with that analogy is the Super Bowl became the championship game within a couple of years, and I could see the appeal of seeing the winner of the two leagues facing each other. The in-season tournament will ALWAYS pale in comparison to the playoffs, and I honestly don't see anything the league can do to change that perception. eliteballer is 100% right, the players getting extra money will does nothing from the fans perspective.

Also, I've seen people constantly bring up the soccer comparison. My understanding is when it's a soccer in season tournament, teams are facing each other who rarely, if ever play one another, so that alone provides a clear distinction. With this you're still getting the same 30 teams that have been playing each other every night for decades :lol It's frankly an asinine comparison.

I know fans are usually resistant to change, but this still seems as meaningless and completely unnecessary as it did when they started floating the idea years ago. It just doesn't work, and i can't envision a scenario where it does.

You have reasons to not think it's especially important. Your position is the paosition that for the league is the worst case scenario of fan opinion. But that would only make the effect neutral. It's not like you won't watch due to the tournament. Versus however many fans find it interesting. And what does this possible added attention cost the league? The 7 to 8 mil they pay the winning players? Already we hear players talking about how they want to win it. That will improve the preceptor of these games and even if some of us never get into it it's unlikely that this doesn't make money, which is the real point.

[Kblaze8855]

It’s not just about time and tradition, there needs to be a functional purpose within the framework of the season. You play regular season games to make the playoffs, you play in the postseason to win the championship which is the measure of the best team in the given year. Just picking some games in the regular season and calling it a tournament serves no functional purpose.



You need to look into world tournaments if you think they all serve a purpose. Some are even exhibitions before the season. It’s just something to put on display and say you won. It doesn’t “matter” but none of it “matters”.

The all star game doesn’t “matter” but I remember exactly how several of them ended when they were actually played like games.

Things don’t need stakes to be memorable or worth a watch. We still occasionally talk about the USA blue vs white scrimmage games.

It’s all just basketball on tv. It’s an attempt to add one more thing that might be worth remembering. Bunch of guys going crazy they got half a million on a game winner might do it.

It doesn’t have to have a function. I’m more likely to remember it than whatever unheralded league pass game I’d have been watching.

I’ll watch the final games to see how they play it. I imagine quite a few will. It doesn’t have to “matter” for me to watch it. If players care about winning it it’s likely to have more effort than most regular season games. No reason not to watch.

[Phoenix]

I can't imagine anyone giving a shit about this season tournament beyond this year, but I stand to be corrected. Like SBT said above, it's still the same teams facing each other multiple times a year, only adorning the court and players with tournament garb to make some kind of distinction from a normal drag of a mid-season game in January

If the league wants to re-introduce some concept of pride, start with something obvious like the All-star game. I'd love to see a NA vs World format, for starters. Or are guys so invested in their personal brands that they just won't make the effort and risk getting injured in an exhibition contest? I can't think of a single occurrence where a notable injury took place during the ASG in years past that tangibly impacted a team's title chances.

[SouBeachTalents]

You have reasons to not think it's especially important. Your position is the paosition that for the league is the worst case scenario of fan opinion. But that would only make the effect neutral. It's not like you won't watch due to the tournament. Versus however many fans find it interesting. And what does this possible added attention cost the league? The 7 to 8 mil they pay the winning players? Already we hear players talking about how they want to win it. That will improve the preceptor of these games and even if some of us never get into it it's unlikely that this doesn't make money, which is the real point.
Tbf though this is hardly the measuring stick of if something is an improvement in the sport or not. Switching sports to football, I am not a fan of the extra playoff seed they've added in the NFL, and if it were up to me I'd do away with the 17th regular season game. To me these just dilute the product, but they will for sure make money.

I don't know how many, if any people here follow college football, but the 8 team playoff they're implementing next year COMPLETELY diminishes the importance of the regular season. Now instead of having almost no margin for error, you could lose 2, maybe even 3 games and still make the playoff. Michigan & Ohio State facing off undefeated will barely even matter now, but rest assured, those extra playoff games will make a shit ton of money.

[Kblaze8855]

Tbf though this is hardly the measuring stick of if something is an improvement in the sport or not.



It is to the people who decide what the sport does though. Rest assured if the revenue grows they don’t give two shits if fans like it or not.

Netflix is rumored to be in on the bidding for future tournaments believe it or not.

It appears to be serving its purpose. Something else to sell. Fans think the ratings matter but they don’t. Rights fees matter. How many people watch pays the tv company not the league. They’re set for like ten years no matter what the ratings are.

Gives them quite a while to work out the kinks.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Tbf though this is hardly the measuring stick of if something is an improvement in the sport or not. Switching sports to football, I am not a fan of the extra playoff seed they've added in the NFL, and if it were up to me I'd do away with the 17th regular season game. To me these just dilute the product, but they will for sure make money.

I don't know how many, if any people here follow college football, but the 8 team playoff they're implementing next year COMPLETELY diminishes the importance of the regular season. Now instead of having almost no margin for error, you could lose 2, maybe even 3 games and still make the playoff. Michigan & Ohio State facing off undefeated will barely even matter now, but rest assured, those extra playoff games will make a shit ton of money.

They should make the football playoff 16 teams. If the point is to crown the deserving champion you should err on the side of more teams not less. How can you or anyone else be sure that the top ranked team is better than the 5th when both are undefeated? Let alone that the 4th is better than the 5th. There are over 100 teamscreating a situation where it's impossible to be sure who is better than who when two teams are from different conferences and never play each other. We just assume the power 5 conference teams are better which has the added negative of making it impossible for literally thousands of players to ever have a shot at the championship no matter what they do.

And that really had nothing to do with the topic.

[Full Court]

It’s not just about time and tradition, there needs to be a functional purpose within the framework of the season. You play regular season games to make the playoffs, you play in the postseason to win the championship which is the measure of the best team in the given year. Just picking some games in the regular season and calling it a tournament serves no functional purpose.

Yeah, I agree with this. A bonus will make the players care, but if you want it to catch on with fans, there has to be something more to it.

[Phoenix]

Yeah, I agree with this. A bonus will make the players care, but if you want it to catch on with fans, there has to be something more to it.

It won't make the players care whom the fans tune in for, that's the issue I see. Great that winning the tournament may be a nice 500k payout for the 12th man on the bench, that would mean more to him because his role on his team winning would be largely immaterial. The players the league 'really' want to incentivize to give a shit are the ones making 40m a year and as I said above, they probably blow 500k on a normal off-season weekend in Vegas.

[Jasper]

having multi-millionaires buy into a tourney that has no impact on their career escalates is pretty tough unless some bum at the end of the
bench tells him do it for me , and your pride.....

While the healthy team sits out and waits for the playoffs....

hard to balance IMO

[PeroAntic]

Also, I've seen people constantly bring up the soccer comparison. My understanding is when it's a soccer in season tournament, teams are facing each other who rarely, if ever play one another, so that alone provides a clear distinction. With this you're still getting the same 30 teams that have been playing each other every night for decades :lol It's frankly an asinine comparison.

Wrong, football cup competitions in Europe do involve the lower level teams but that is only in the initial rounds which are a wash anyway, towards the end its all the bigs competing again, who play in the league against each other. A trophy is still a trophy, silverware matters even if its not the top one. In the NBA you have all of these legends who never won anything in their career because there is only one title and it kinda sucks. This would make resumes and legacies more interesting.