Citing television ratings as a concern, the NBA has decided to shake up the season schedule. Commissioner Adam Silver and the league have investigated the possibility of a mid-season tournament. However, on Friday, Silver was dubious about the implementation of the tournament by the 2021-22 season, as he had previously hoped.
Per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, Silver said it was “unclear right now” whether the NBA would adopt the in-season tournament within the next two years.
Adam Silver says it is "unclear right now" if the NBA's planned in-season tournament will begin in the 2021-22 season.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) January 24, 2020
The murky status of the tournament comes a week after Silver announced a vote on that particular proposal would be scrapped from the Board of Governors (team owners) meeting in April.
ESPN's Zach Lowe reported earlier this month that most franchises have yet to warm up to the idea of a mid-season tournament.
“I think it certainly, of all the big proposals, is the one that has been met with the most skepticism from teams.” Lowe said on ESPN radio. “It centers around, ‘Is anyone going to care about this? Are we, teams, going to care about this?’
The tournament proposal could potentially cut into the number of home games NBA teams get to host yearly, possibly costing revenue with respect to the calendar's events and arena advertising.
Another proposal facing the governors and the commissioner's office is reseeding the playoffs to eliminate conferences—instead seeding the sixteen qualified teams solely by record. This has been met with apathy, likewise the in-season tournament, due to coastal franchises having to deal with much more travel on their plate.
Neither proposal appears ready for implementation in the near future.
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