After the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 134-107, in the second group play game of the NBA In-season tournament, star Anthony Davis talked about the tourney. He acknowledged that the grand prize of $500,000 will make players motivated to win according to HoopsHype on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“$500 [thousand] sounds real good to us,” Davis said. “It’s going to bring that juice, you know what I mean? … I heard one of our players, I’m not going to say who but he was like, ‘Man,’ when we beat Phoenix, ‘That’s one step closer to this $500K. I’ve never had that before.’ So it’s like, that’s a little extra motivation.”

While there was originally some reluctance by fans about the new tournament the NBA has put in, there seems to be a ton of players including Davis who can get behind the idea. He went on to say there is enough incentive with the cash prize, the trophy, and the extra competition.

The Lakers are currently 2-0 in group play after the win to the Grizzlies with their first victory coming against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 10. In the game last night, Davis had 19 points, 11 rebounds, and a staggering six blocks against Memphis.

Davis also said it’s been cool to have the different court designs and uniforms in celebration of the NBA In-season tournament. There’s no doubt it’s been an up-and-down season for Los Angeles so far, but they’ve looked excellent in the new event. Their next tourney game will be on Nov. 17 where they will take on the Portland Trail Blazers.