The 2023-24 season is well underway, but this week also marks the beginning of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament. All 30 teams will participate in games and then a single-elimination tournament will take place to determine the winner of the event.
How It Works
On Tuesdays and Fridays during the month of November, each team will play the other four teams in their group (three groups of five per conference). At the end of group play, the teams with the best records in their group plus a wild card from each conference will advance to the knockout round in December. These games are single-elimination with the semifinals and finals taking place on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, respectively, at T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas.
Results from the In-Season Tournament games will count toward teams’ regular season record. For teams that do no qualify for the knockout round, they will play on the days after the quarterfinals and semifinal games.
Every team will play the full 82-game schedule, though some teams will play an extra home or away game and the teams that make it to the championship of the tournament will play 83.
What’s At Stake
The eight teams that advance to the knockout stage are guaranteed at least $50,000 for each player. The prize money grows with each round that teams make it to. Semifinalists will win $100,000, the runner-up of the tournament will win $200,000 and the winners will take home $500,000. Coaches of each organization will also make the same money as well.
The tournament will also name an MVP as well as all-tournament honors.
Groupings
The 15 teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences were grouped with teams in the same conference. Teams were distributed based on their 2022-23 regular season records. The top-three teams were separated into different groups, as well as the bottom-three teams.
For the Los Angeles Lakers, they are in Group A along with the Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers.
Schedule
Group play starts the first week of November and will go on for five weeks. Following group play, the eight teams that advance will play in a knockout round and the semifinals and finals will be held on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9.
The Lakers’ first game of group play will be on Friday, Nov. 10 against the Suns, followed by a game against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, Nov. 14. They then finish up group play against the Trail Blazers on Friday, Nov. 17 and the Jaxx on Tuesday, No. 21.
In-Season Tournament Courts
With the new tournament comes new customized courts for all 30 teams. The new courts are designed with the primary team colors and feature the In-Season Tournament trophy at center court.
The Lakers’ court is adorned in all gold with the purple covering midcourt up to the keys and baseline.
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