The NBA regular season is winding down as there are just a few weeks left before the postseason gets going. Before the playoffs get going, however, the NBA play-in tournament will take place. The play-in tournament has been happening for a few years now, and some people have some doubts about it. One person that is a fan of it, however, is Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti.
Instead of eight teams making the playoffs right when the regular season ends, the top-six teams in each conference are guaranteed a berth, and teams seed 7-10 will battle it out for the final two spots. The seven seed plays the eight seed, and the winner gets the seven seed in the playoffs. The loser players the winner of the 9-10 game, and then the winner of that gets the eight seed. Sam Presti likes it.
“I love the play-in thing and I’m a big mid-season tournament supporter, as well, and even the early rounds of the playoffs,” Presti said, according to an article from AOL. “I think it’s bold. I give Adam (Silver) and Evan Wasch and Byron a lot of credit for thinking boldly, and I think it’s very future-oriented, and it takes courage to put something out there that is going to be probably maligned a little bit, maybe won’t get the immediate love, but they’re thinking bigger picture because, yeah, maybe they’re going to have to withstand some scrutiny early. They’re going to have to withstand some mocking. Like I said before, social media is a performance art, and there will be plenty of art going on about that, especially if there’s a bad game or something like that happens.But the long-term impact for the league, what that could mean, if a non-traditional fan base or a younger fan base can grow up with that and see that maybe in a different light than the first three or four years of it, I think it could do amazing things for the business.”
Sam Presti won’t have to worry about his Thunder being in the play-in tournament this season. They are firmly in the playoffs, but it sounds like he will still enjoy watching the play-in take place.
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