Inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament primer: How it works, where to watch

After years of Adam Silver selling the idea — and twisting a few arms — the NBA In-Season Tournament is finally here.

Friday night the first games tip-off and it’s going to be hard to miss when you flip by on your television and see a basketball court that makes you think of the Boise State football field.

Those courts are just part of the NBA’s quest to make something that is part of the regular season stand out from it and bring attention to a part of the season when many fans are focused on college football rankings and their NFL fantasy team.

Here is everything you need to know about the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament:

How does the NBA In-Season Tournament work?

There’s a lot to cover here, so we’re turning to our old friend the bullet point:

• The 30 NBA teams have been divided into six groups of five teams each and each team will play four Group Stage games against the other teams in its group (two home, two road). Those groups are:

• West Group A: Memphis, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah and Portland.
• West Group B: Denver, the Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, Dallas and Houston.
• West Group C: Sacramento, Golden State, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
• East Group A: Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Indiana and Detroit.
• East Group B: Milwaukee, New York, Miami, Washington and Charlotte.
• East Group C: Boston, Brooklyn, Toronto, Chicago and Orlando.

• The teams with the best record in each group plus two wild-card teams will advance to the eight-team, single-elimination knockout portion of the In-Season Tournament.

• The final four teams in the tournament will come to Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9 for the semifinals and finals.

Are these NBA In-Season Tournament games or regular season games?

Both. Every game essentially counts double, as a standard regular season game as well as a tournament game, except for the title game which does not count toward anything (except pride, a new In-Season Tournament Trophy, and money for the players). The two teams that reach the tournament championship will play 83 games this season.

When does the NBA In-Season Tournament start?

It starts this Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, when the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks. From there through the end of November, every game on a Tuesday or Friday night will be a tournament game.

The NBA put all the games on Tuesday and Fridays at the request of the players, who thought one of the problems with the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup — an in-season tournament built on a similar model — was nobody knew when the Cup games were. The NBA took some very loud steps to make sure tournament games stand out from other regular season games.

Are there special NBA In-Season Courts and uniforms?

Yes! And the league has thrown tradition out the window with these courts — there is no sign of wood on the floor, it’s all colors. Check a couple of the courts out.

Where to watch the NBA In-Season Tournament Games

NBA national broadcast partners ESPN and TNT will broadcast 14 of the group-play games, and the rest will be on League Pass and regional broadcast networks that traditionally carry games. The seven knockout-round games will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and TNT.

What is the motivation for players in the tournament?

Money. Players on a standard NBA contract whose team wins the In-Season Tournament get a $500,000 bonus each, $200,000 each for the runners-up, $100,000 each for players on the two teams that lose in the semifinal games, and $50,000 each for those on the teams fall in the first round of the knockout stage. That may not be much compared to the contract for the team’s biggest stars, but for much of the NBA that is still a significant pay boost. Nobody is turning down half a million dollars.

Why is the NBA starting an In-Season Tournament?

Money. That’s a cynical answer, but it’s true. This early part of the NBA season can get lost in the minds of sports fans focused on the end of the college football season as well as the NFL. The audience for all sports is already fragmenting, it’s harder to get the attention of fans in an age of mainstream streaming services, so the NBA is trying something new and bold to hopefully grab the attention of fans. The idea is to grow it into the way European soccer/football in-season cups are beloved. It’s also not coincidental this is starting while the NBA is in the midst of negotiations for the next national broadcast television contract.

The NBA had enough success with its play-in tournament — where the regular season 7-10 seeds have to play their way into the playoffs — that Silver had the leverage to get approval for the In-Season Tournament.

Will the teams and players care?

Yes. Within reason. The fact these are regular season games means they do matter and guys want to win. Talking to players and coaches around the league, the vibe is they will care about the group play games much as they would any other regular season game — it matters, but nobody is going out there on a bad ankle to play through it like they might for the playoffs.

Those same players and coaches say if they reach that final four and head to Las Vegas, the motivation will go up.

Will fans care about the NBA In-Season Tournament?

That is the literal million dollar question. Millions of dollars. This is all about drawing in fans, bumping viewership and getting eyeballs on ads and sponsors. Maybe fans take to this, particularly international fans. Maybe not.

The NBA is going to give the In-Season Tournament an honest try — this is not a one-year thing, the league will run this back for a few years to build an audience. Adam Silver used a lot of his political capital to make this happen, and he’s been right more than wrong as commissioner. Maybe he sees something the rest of us do not.