In the past 70 years of history, the NBA has been in the mode of regular season + playoffs, until the 2023-2024 season, the NBA has changed, and the midseason championship has entered the field of vision of fans.
On the morning of November 4, the first mid-season tournament in NBA history began, and the 30 teams in the league were divided into six groups, three groups of five teams each in the East and West. After deciding the top eight through the group stage, the league will play a single-loss knockout game in December, and decide the mid-season championship champion on December 10.
On the first day of the game, with Curry's kill, the Warriors defeated the Thunder 141-139; Nuggets beat Mavericks 125-114; The Bucks beat the Knicks 110-105.
The NBA's FA Cup is here
"It's a concept that's been brewing in the league office for about 15 years, and it's not a new concept in sports." NBA Commissioner Adam Silver had this to say when the midseason tournament schedule was announced.
When it comes to the format, Silver is open about the midseason tournament borrowing from the Football League: "For those who are particularly concerned about international football, the midseason tournament has a long history... So we think it's a perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA, and it's a perfect fit for our game."
As Silver said, the NBA midseason championship has been in the planning for a long time. In 2014, Silver, who had just succeeded David Stern as NBA commissioner, told the media: "We are considering a mid-season league (football-like format), possibly in Las Vegas."
Over the next few years, Silver would occasionally mention the midseason tournament.
At the 2019 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, Xiao Hua proposed replacing the All-Star Game with a mid-season tournament or a pre-season tournament.
At the All-Star weekend in February 2020, he again raised the hope of trying a mid-season championship in the 75th anniversary of the NBA. more... At the time he said: "I firmly believe we will eventually have some sort of in-season tournament and play-offs."
Finally, the idea officially landed in the 2023-2024 season.
Evan Walsh, the NBA's executive vice president of basketball strategy and analysis, responded to the appeal of the midseason tournament by always focusing on football: "In a soccer league like England or Spain, the FA Cup or Copa del Rey encompasses the entire national soccer ecosystem, and while the later rounds are almost always the top teams, But the participation of the fans and the importance of the team to the game is very high."
"The charm of a single knockout in a mid-season tournament is completely different."
While the current NBA midseason tournament does not emulate England's FA Cup, which features 732 professional and amateur teams, and is limited to just 30 NBA teams, the introduction of a new trophy and goal brings at least some freshness to the NBA.
Increase the load? nothing
In fact, in both years, when the midseason championship was discussed, negativity followed.
On one side of the 82-game regular season schedule, on the other side of the additional competition goals, many people have questioned the gold content of the midseason tournament and the physical load on the players.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spoke out against the midseason tournament, saying, "I would probably take the Mavericks out of the tournament altogether, or rest our best players, unless they give me an O 'Brien Cup, and that would be a reward."
Cuban's statement, while radical, also brings to the heart of the midseason tournament question: How to balance the physical load of players with the value of the game?
The answer comes from the format of the mid-season tournament, which divides the NBA30 teams into six groups according to the schedule, with the top team from each group and the two best second-place teams advancing to the final eight, followed by a single-loss elimination.
