MILWAUKEE — The NBA will institute a new wrinkle into the regular-season schedule for the 2023-24 season: an in-season tournament.
For the first time, the league will conduct a tournament in which teams will play for the NBA Cup and cash. Every team in the league is placed into one of six groups. The winners of those groups will participate in a single-elimination stage before the survivors head to Las Vegas for the semifinals and final.
The Philadelphia 76ers are in Group A in the East with the Atlanta Hawks, the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons. Philadelphia’s first in-season tournament game will be on Nov. 9 against the Pistons in Detroit.
This is a new look for the league, and some might not get it or want to be involved in it, but veteran PJ Tucker is ready.
“I don’t mind it,” he said. “If it works for the league, it works for me. It’s a part of the business. I think it’s a part of the game growing and them just bringing more. I’m excited about it. I think the tournament in Vegas will be pretty cool. I think guys will get into it as it gets further along. I think guys will get more into it.”
It will be interesting to see how Tucker and other players in the league will approach the in-season tournament. Will it be like a playoff game? Will players have the same playoff mindset for games in November if they’re playing for something?
“You wanna win,” Tucker added. “Obviously, you wanna play, you wanna win. I feel like the league is full of a ton of competitive guys. Everybody wants to win. If you have a tournament, you’re gonna wanna win it.”
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