The NBA has sent a proposal to teams calling for a 78-game regular season, along with an in-season tournament for all teams and a reseeding of the playoffs when the field is cut to the final four clubs.
A copy of the proposal was obtained by the Associated Press on Friday.
The plan laid out for teams calls for a play-in tournament to decide the seventh and eighth seeds in both conferences — the top 10 finishers in both the East and West would therefore have a chance at the playoffs — as well as a US$1 million per player prize for the in-season tournament.
Photo: AP
The league would make the changes for the 2021-2022 season on a trial basis, with an option to continue the next season. The league’s board of governors is expected to discuss and likely decide whether to go forward or not with the plan in April.
The notion of adding a in-season tournament has been something that NBA commissioner Adam Silver has talked about since at least 2016, drawing the parallel to how such events are customary in European soccer.
“It would need to be negotiated with the [NBA] Players’ Association,” Silver said earlier this year. “I’ve had very general discussions with [union executive director] Michele Roberts about the notion that these are the kinds of things we’re looking at. I think she, of course, is supportive of looking at any ideas we have to build the business over time.”
The NBA told teams that a study it commissioned through a third-party company earlier this year showed that 60 percent of NBA fans want a shorter regular season, that 68 percent of fans said they are interested in an in-season tournament and 75 percent were interested in a play-in tournament to decide the playoffs field.
The same study found that fans liked the idea of reseeding the final four playoff teams — even though that would open the door to the potential of the NBA Finals going on between two teams from the same conference, the NBA said.
It told teams that “fans feel it would make the final two rounds more desirable to watch.”
On the court, Eastern Conference contenders Boston, Toronto, Miami and Indiana moved closer to pace-setting Milwaukee with wins on Friday, while injury-hit Dallas, powered by Kristaps Porzingis, routed the Philadelphia 76ers.
Latvian forward Porzingis scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, while Tim Hardaway Jr added 27 points, 19 in the first quarter, as the Mavericks defeated Philadelphia 117-98.
Indiana downed the visiting Sacramento Kings 119-105, with T.J. Warren scoring 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting to lead seven double-figure scorers for the Pacers.
Bam Adebayo led seven Miami double-digit scorers, while Duncan Robinson and Slovenian reserve Goran Dragic each added 18 to power the Heat over the visiting New York Knicks 129-114.
Kyle Lowry scored 26 points and passed out nine assists to lead defending champions the Toronto Raptors over the visiting Washington Wizards 122-118.
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored 26 points to spark the Boston Celtics over the Detroit Pistons 114-93.
Damian Lillard scored 36 points and C.J. McCollum added 31 to power the Portland Trail Blazers over the Orlando Magic 118-103.
Cleveland reserve Jordan Clarkson scored 33 points, while Kevin Love added 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-107.
Canadian guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Phoenix Suns 126-108.
Nikola Jokic had a triple double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, while Jamal Murray had a game-high 28 points to power the Denver Nuggets over the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-100.
D’Angelo Russell scored 25 points to power the NBA-worst Golden State Warriors over the New Orleans Pelicans 106-102.
Additional reporting by AFP
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