Tag: Adam Silver

James Harden, P.J. Tucker not fans of NBA’s mid-year tournament plan

Rockets veterans James Harden and P.J. Tucker aren’t fans of the NBA’s new proposal to add a mid-year tournament by the 2021-22 season.Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images

Houston Rockets veterans James Harden and P.J. Tucker don’t seem to be fans of the NBA’s recent proposal to add a mid-year tournament for all 30 teams in time for the 2021-22 season.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has often floated the idea of an in-season tournament in the future, comparing it to the European soccer model. However, the responses from the Rockets show that the league still has a ways to go in convincing players of the idea’s merits.

Harden and Tucker each addressed the subject with reporters prior to Tuesday’s practice at Toyota Center.

Tucker said:

We’re fighting for an NBA championship. I don’t want to play for anything else. What else is there? There’s nothing else. It’s like a consolation or something? I don’t know. We’re playing these games to win an NBA championship.

Harden initially said he didn’t know anything about it, then added:

Are we in college? This college?

The proposal was first reported Saturday by ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe, who said the issue could be brought to the league’s board of governors in April 2020 for discussion and possibly ratification.

In Saturday’s story, Wojnarowski and Lowe reported that the NBA and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) had found common ground on a post-Thanksgiving tournament window that would extend into mid-December, with games prior to knockout rounds counting toward each team’s regular-season schedule, as well.

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The league values such planning. They …

The league values such planning. They contacted the Clippers in the offseason and asked if the team had any general road map for when Leonard might sit out, sources said. The Clippers replied that they could not provide one at that point. In the end, all these decisions — whether a team may rest a healthy player in a game normally subject to the resting policy, or whether a player designated as “injured” truly is injured — can be sent as high as Adam Silver, the league’s commissioner, for approval. “We are not getting gamed,” Spruell said.

NBA mulling reseeding, in-season tournament and play-in tourney

The NBA is engaged in serious discussions with the National Basketball Players Association and broadcast partners on sweeping and dramatic changes to the league calendar that would include a reseeding of the four conference finalists, a 30-team in-season tournament and a postseason play-in, league sources told ESPN. These scenarios would include the shortening of the regular season to a minimum of 78 games, league sources said.

Discussions are progressing with hopes …

Discussions are progressing with hopes of bringing a vote to the April meeting of the league’s Board of Governors that would introduce some — if not all — of these proposals into the NBA’s 75th anniversary season of 2021-22, league sources said. The NBA still has work to do coordinating with constituents on the myriad implications involving the proposed changes. The reseeding of teams in the semifinal round based on regular-season record could give the NBA a championship series that includes its best two teams. The WNBA has been seeding teams in the playoffs without regard to conference for several seasons.

In proposals that include adoption of …

In proposals that include adoption of in-season tournaments and post-season play-in, the traditional regular season schedule would be reduced from 82 games — with most teams scheduled to play 78 or 79 games. There’s an extremely limited possibility of a team playing a maximum of 83 games based on on possible tournament and play-in scenarios, league sources said. For the in-season tournament, the NBA is focused on 30-team participation that begins with a divisional group stage of scheduled regular-season games. Those pre-knockout round games will be part of the regular-season schedule. Six divisional winners — based on home and away records in the group stage — and teams with the next two best records would advance to a single-elimination knockout round, league sources said. Those teams could each potentially compete in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

The NBA and NBPA are finding common …

The NBA and NBPA are finding common ground on a post-Thanksgiving tournament window that would extend into mid-December, league sources said. Months ago, the NBA had proposed a late January-February tournament that would culminate with a Final Four during All-Star weekend, sources said. That idea faded fast. Both the union and team executives expressed concern over that idea. The NBPA was resistant to shortening players’ All-Star breaks and requiring some to potentially participate in the in-season tournament and All-Star weekend.