Odds and Ends: Naysayers Have No Right to Complain About the Play-In Tournament
You can’t whine about something you agreed to do just because you didn’t think it would happen to you
The NBA Play-In Tournament is a flawed concept.
Let’s just get that out of the way. It is an entirely new format that was formed last year in NBA’s “Bubble Experiment.” It seemed way too ridiculous to be an effective stratagem to end the “tanking” methods of losing teams and incentivize competition.
The lower seed teams would face off against each other for the final positions in the NBA Playoffs. The 7th and 8th seeded teams would face each other while the 9th and 10th seed face each other. The winner of the 7th and 8th seed matchup gets to go to the playoffs as the 7th seed while the loser has one last chance to win and make it as the 8th seed. They would face the winner of the 9th and 10th seed match. The loser of said match will be eliminated from the playoff hunt and enter the draft lottery. The winner of the 8th seed tournament match would enter the playoffs as the 8th seed and the loser will be eliminated from the playoff hunt and will also enter the draft lottery.
Reading all that makes the very nature of the Play In Tournament seem pointless and silly. Why not just simply include the 9th and 10th seed teams in the playoffs and open the competition to the top 20 teams as opposed to the top 16. The answer is that the NBA wants to mimic the Wild Card Playoff Format similar to the MLB and the NFL. Those postseason games happen on the weekends (hence the obvious name “Wild Card Weekend”) and it is the moment were the competition reaches its peak. The idea of a 20 seeded playoff format should not be ignored but clearly Commissioner Adam Silver wants to boast a competitive environment. Otherwise what would be the point of sports if there is nothing at stake?
Nonetheless the experiment worked thanks to a matchup between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Portland Trailblazers last year. The back and forth matchup between the two lower seeded teams boasted a very competitive game that was one of the big highlights of the NBA Bubble last year.
So NBA fans and personnel alike wanted to see a format like this continue. That was why it was put into a vote and it was unanimously agreed to be added to the NBA game structure. To get the ball started and see how it fares the Play In Tournament was added to this season and will begin once the regular season ends.
Like I said, NBA’s version of “Wild Card Weekend” except the games are not solely played on the weekend.
So why are there personnel now saying it is a terrible idea?
Easy: they are likely to fall in the Play In Tournament and they didn’t think it would happen to their teams.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban complained about the Play In Tournament earlier this year in an interview with ESPN and stated how it is a bad idea to do this during a shortened season.
“I get why the NBA is doing it,” Cuban said in a series of messages to ESPN. “But if we are going to be creative because of COVID, we should go straight up 1–20 and let the bottom 4 play in. This is the year particularly to do it since the 10 games cut [from the normal 82-game schedule] were in conference.
Cuban later continued, “rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days.”
There is truth to his statement. He did admit that “in hindsight” they should have held this off until a full season is played instead of the shortened one due to the COVID 19 Pandemic.
However, yesterday the criticism hit its peak when NBA superstar LeBron James complained about the tournament after the Los Angeles Lakers had a disappointing loss against the Toronto Raptors.
When speaking to reporters about the tournament, James vented his frustration over its existence.
“Whoever came up with that s — t needs to be fired,” James said with an almost stern tone.
In case you weren’t aware, the Lakers just had their third straight loss and overall seventh loss in their last nine games. This drops them into a three-way tie for seeds 5–7 with the Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trail Blazers. That is not a great position to be in if you are trying to go for a championship. If the season were to end today they would be in the 6th seed and qualify for the playoffs. However, if this losing continues then they would very much be in the Play In Tournament fighting for the final two spots in the Western Conference Playoff hunt. Not to mention, the team is currently with a myriad of injuries and they can’t afford to fall off after winning a title last season.
The Play In Tournament sucks now because teams who did not think that they would end up in the tournament now find themselves of possibly falling in it. So now everybody wants to blame Adam Silver for proposing the idea despite the fact that A.) the NBA was told what it entailed B.) were given the option to decide whether or not they want to proceed forward implementing it in the NBA scheduling format C.) knew this was going to be added in the shortened season to see how things play out D.) and were given the rights to VOTE.
Nobody was tricked. They were not lied to. Everyone knew what this was when they were given the rights to vote on the matter. If LeBron did not like the idea, he should have said something last year when the concept was first introduced.
Turns out he did say something in regards to the Play In Tournament: he supported the idea.
“One thing you can’t just do is go straight to the playoffs, because it discredits the 60-plus games that guys had fighting for that position,” James said on the Road Trippin’ Podcast with Allie Clinton. “You got Portland. You got Memphis…New Orleans and Sacramento tinkering around there…so if there’s five or ten games left…why not those guys battle it out? Make them play each other all five games?”
LeBron is the face of the league. If he did not want this to happen, he could have pushed for a harder negotiation to make sure just the top-eight teams make it in each conference. The same can be said for Cuban and Luka Doncic when they were the given the chance to vote on the matter. Instead, they agreed to the format.
Everybody had a hand in this. This is not solely on Adam Silver or any of the NBA executives. They said yes and here we are. Disappointing seasons do not mean you get to complain about something you agreed upon and said that was a good idea. That is like saying you are blaming someone for getting diarrhea from eating bad cheese after you decided to eat the bad cheese even though you were told it was bad cheese.
If they don’t want to be in the Play In Tournament then their teams need to play better so that doesn’t happen. It will be tough but they have to step up. Whining about it will not change things for their situations. They are here now so they all need to make the best of it.
*additional information from Bleacher Report, Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports
