In his latest newsletter, the NYT's Marc Stein reported that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is a huge fan of European soccer. He's intrigued by the idea that teams can win up to four trophies every year and is “in the conceptual phase” of introducing a second tournament to the NBA.
Here are some interesting snippets:
Stein: Silver made it clear, furthermore, that he had yet to make a formal proposal to Michele Roberts, the National Basketball Players Association’s executive director, about ushering in either of the concepts that league officials have been discussing behind the scenes for some time. One is an in-season tournament; the other is a play-in tournament at the end of the regular season to create additional pathways to the playoffs.
Silver: “Another marker for me is that we’re a few seasons away from our 75th anniversary. I think that milestone gives us a pillar around which to think about the history of the league and experiment — maybe just for the 75th anniversary — with some potential changes.”
Stein: Imagine, then, an All-Star weekend that instead features the semifinals and final of a Champions League-style knockout tournament in addition to the usual 3-point shootout and dunk contest. No more Sunday game with the biggest names in the sport playing at half-speed with no discernible defense. These are all concepts that the league, according to Silver, is “studying fairly intensely.”
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