Tomorrow night at the Garden, the Celtics host the Brooklyn Nets for their first round of the NBA in-season tournament.
It’s an entirely new event for the NBA: In-season tournaments, modeled after European sports leagues — and promoted with a heist-film trailer.
“I give them credit for trying to play the role of visionary,” sports journalist and BU lecturer Sherrod Blakely told Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston Thursday morning. “They understand that their product, while it is very successful, it needs a little bit of upgrading.”
European soccer and basketball leagues have long had in-season tournaments, he said. They are generally successful, drawing in fan interest and good viewership numbers early in the season, he said.
“But the biggest thing that they're looking to do, the NBA, is to galvanize on the fact that they are good, but they know they can be better,” Blakely said. “And it doesn't hurt that you're doing this at a time when fan apathy, I think, is on the rise because a lot of players and a lot of teams are having their players sit out games for load management.”
Imagine a fan’s disappointment after spending hundreds of dollars to, say, fly to Los Angeles and get Lakers tickets in the hopes of seeing LeBron James play, only to find out James is sidelined for the game — resting to try to prevent future injuries. The higher stakes of a tournament means fans are more likely to see the stars on the court, Blakely said.
“This is a way for the league to have players more energized and galvanized during the season with something at stake,” he said. “And for fans, it gives them something a little bit more to look forward to during the regular season.”
The tournament is also coming with a physical redesign of the basketball courts to visually differentiate them from regular games. Instead of the usual parquet, the courts will be colorful and bright — almost like something out of a video game.
The redesign has come out to mixed feedback, Blakely said.
“For example, Boston Celtics fans, they love the parquet. And when they see the court, they're going to say, ‘Yeah, it really is different here’ — because it will not be the traditional parquet,” he said. “So there's going to be a lot of growing pains with this thing, obviously. But at the end of the day, the NBA understands that this is probably the best route for them to really both kind of be able to fortify the fan base that they have and potentially grow it outwards.”
So what’s in it for the players? That depends, Blakely said.
The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown has said the tournament structure offers more money for players, which is why players agreed to the new structure.
“The ones who are, you know, trying to play Mr. Diplomat, which Jaylen Brown is extremely good at, they're trying to be guardedly optimistic about how this is going to play,” Blakely said.
Blakely did the math how the tournament bonus — $500,000 — would fit into Brown’s most recent contract, worth more than $300 million.
“For Jaylen Brown, this is not, I can't even call it lunch money,” he said. “This is more like snack money for him. But if you start looking at the roster and looking at the roster of NBA teams, the further down the pipeline you go, the more you realize that someone is going to potentially double their salary by being part of the winning team.”
Superstars, like Brown, will also have an opportunity to expand their brands, he said.
And how will the Celtics do? Only time will tell.
“I expect them to be the last team standing,” Blakely said. “Teams that have multiple superstars, I think those teams are going to do really well. And the big picture, everyone is going to win if you have top-tier, high-profile major markets in that championship game.”
