How the NBA can differentiate a possible in-season tournament from the rest of its schedule

The league has a chance to create something unique

Death, taxes ... and vague reports about the NBA instituting an in-season tournament. They are the three certainties of life, and it seems as though we've made about as much progress on the third as we have on the first two. The idea has been out there for years, seemingly a priority of commissioner Adam Silver's, but rarely have tangible updates been offered. "The NBA is discussing having an in-season tournament in future seasons, with $1 million per player in prize money," The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Monday. "The concept was discussed on a Competition Committee call today."

At this stage, we have a proposed prize and … not much else. When is this tournament going to take place? How will it be structured? How will teams be incentivized to care after decades of being told that the end-of-season championship is all that matters? How will American fans unfamiliar with European soccer's less myopic seasonal structure approach that same question? 

There are eventually going to be answers to those questions, but all of the years we've spent waiting suggests that they probably aren't going to be all that innovative. As progressive as the NBA tends to be compared to other sports, professional leagues tend to be bound by inertia. It took a pandemic to institute the play-in round, and even that was initially done on a provisional basis. If an in-season tournament ever does come, the likeliest form it will take will be a somewhat standard single-elimination bracket wedged into the middle of the schedule for a trophy fans have no attachment to. The extra stock of games will appeal to the league's broadcast partners, but with a new TV deal on the horizon, the league could and should get more creative in developing something that can draw in new viewers while satisfying existing ones.