NBA Bringing New ‘Final Four’ Tournament To Las Vegas: ESPN
Many of us are waiting for the moment Lebron James announces he is bringing the NBA to Las Vegas at the new arena being proposed at Las Vegas Boulevard and Blue Diamond. But wait, what’s this? Turns out the NBA is coming to Las Vegas this year for a new, in-season tournament. This according to a new report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The in-season tournament is a new concept and which teams are coming to town are still up in the air. We are expected to get more details Saturday on ESPN.
The NBA having an in-season tournament in Las Vegas? Why?
While we didn’t know about the Las Vegas part, we did know about the tournament part. The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has inside of it a new in-season tourney that will pit all of the NBA teams against each other.
According to the report, there will be six “groups” of five teams each. Those teams will play each team in the group once. The winners of each group will then face off with two wild card teams as well.
When it gets to the final four, the games go to a neutral location – hello Las Vegas – and we become a December destination.
While the premise will be kind of foreign for NBA fans (at least to start) this is nothing new to fans of soccer. In-season tournaments like The FA Cup pit teams against each other in the midst of the season. Think about it. The excitement of the NBA Playoffs without the finality of it.
We are totally here for it, and we are literally here for it. The NBA has been testing the waters of Las Vegas for years with Summer League, and this is surely a sign of things to come. In the words of Fergie… Let’s Play Some Basketball!
