The NBA In-Season Tournament has reached the semifinals stage, and the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, New Orleans Pelicans, and Los Angeles Lakers will battle it out at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

When asked Wednesday about players buying in to the tournament, Lakers star LeBron James was glowing in his praise, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Said LeBron, “Adam Silver is a genius. It’s that simple. This is gonna work.”

The Lakers star isn't the only one that thinks the tournament has been a massive success. Despite some initial misgivings about the colored courts or complications in scheduling, the NBA In-Season Tournament has provided exciting and compelling basketball. That it's happened before Christmas (when many sports fans finally start to pay attention to the NBA) is even better for the league.

There are two main reasons that players have bought in so heavily. One is, obviously, the money. Each player from the winning team receives $500,000 for their part in earning the tournament championship. While $500,000 is a nice paycheck for anyone, it’s significant for the players who aren’t playing on max or near-max contracts.

Secondly, and likely the reason that Lakers star LeBron James has loved the tournament so far, NBA players are incredibly competitive by nature. To have meaningful games with a playoff-like atmosphere, especially this early in the season, is certainly going to get players' competitive juices flowing. That means they have more fun, the games are more intense, fans enjoy the product more, ratings are up, and so on and so forth.

LeBron and the Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals on Thursday. That game is preceded by the Indiana Pacers vs. the Milwaukee Bucks.