NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been pushing for an in-season tournament for a few years. The idea may be approved soon. Recent history has shown we do not need an 82-game regular season. The more meaningful basketball, the better.
The NBA should expand the tournament from just all 30 NBA teams to 36 total. This would allow for the inclusion of a top team from Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, and the G-League Ignite(which generally includes lottery picks for the upcoming draft). The bottom 2 NBA teams with these six would play in play-in games to see who gets into the 32-team bracket.
Following rounds would be single game elimination a la March Madness until a winner is crowned.
With players like Joel Embiid(Cameroon), Giannis Antetokounmpo(Greece), Luka Doncic(Slovenia), Furkan Korkmaz(Turkey), and Nikola Jokic(Serbia), basketball is more global than ever before. This group includes the most elite players in the game and a player that will fight an entire country if pushed.
This tournament would grow the game even faster and lead to more people playing basketball.
How does this help the Sixers? The Sixers have had issues in recent years with not giving younger players the experience needed to be ready for the playoffs. This tournament can help the team gauge who can be reliable.
And then there are the injury issues that every team has dealt with recently but especially with the Sixers. Any player banged up can get extended rest during this time, even more so if knocked out early.
Photo: Stacy Revere/The New York Times
