The 2023-24 NBA season got underway on Oct. 24 with a doubleheader on TNT. This season introduces an entirely new competition with the NBA In-Season Tournament making its debut as all 30 teams will vie for the first-ever title that comes along with some prize money. Let’s take a closer look at the how the tournament works so you’ll know what to expect when it tips off.
Key Dates
The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament tips off on Friday, November 3 and will run all the way until the championship on Saturday, Dec. 9. The championship, as well as the semifinal round, will be held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
One thing to note is that the tournament will not cut into the regular season at all, as tournament games are only played on certain nights and most of the games will count toward the 82-game regular season anyway.
Format: Group Play and Knockout Rounds
All 30 teams in the league were drawn into five conference-based groups, and will play through the group stage from Nov. 3-28. Each team plays four games in group play — once against each team in the group.
At the end of group play, the top team from each group will advance to the knockout rounds along with two wild card teams, for a total of eight teams advancing out of group play. The wild card spots will be given to the teams with the best record that finished in second place in their group, but only one from each conference.
The knockouts will feature single-elimination games starting with the quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals, and finally the championship on Dec. 9.
If this format sounds familiar, it’s because it’s akin to World Cup-style soccer tournaments, where teams are broken into groups and must qualify for knockout rounds. Unlike the soccer competitions, though, all games in the NBA In-Season Tournament will count toward the regular season standings, with the exception of the championship game.
Prizes and Awards
The winners of the NBA In-Season Tournament will be awarded the NBA Cup and will add a piece of hardware to their trophy cabinet.
At the end of the tournament, the prize pool will be distributed among players on the eight teams that qualified for the knockout rounds. The amount that each player gets will be determined by how far they made it in the single-elimination stage, with the biggest portions being awarded to players on the team that lifts the NBA Cup.
The NBA will also name a tournament MVP as well as an All-Tournament Team once the competition wraps up.