Give The NBA Credit, The Play In Tournament Idea Has Made The Regular Season So Much Better

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

Change is hard. Sometimes your initial response to change is to hate it without hesitation. When things are different from what you're used to, there's always pushback. Then times go by, we have awesome moments and people realize that maybe innovation is actually a good idea. Happens in every industry whether it's sports or blogging. 

When it comes to the NBA, I feel like I'm not alone in suggesting this is exactly what is happening with the play in tournament. In years past, once we got to this point in the schedule, half the league was tanking. Guys were being shut down in hopes for a better pick. Teams rested guys to prepare for the playoffs. And while that will still happen a few weeks from now, the league has made the end of the season matter again. When they first announced this new format, I was a little apprehensive that it went as high as the 7 seed. There were situations where a team could be 10 games over .500 and find themselves in the play in. But now? I don't really care about that anymore. Think how how this applies to this season

In year's past, do you think a 10 game under .500 team would be trying to win right now? No way. But the Pelicans are getting healthy and are actually pretty good! They have reason to actually try down the stretch. In year's past, maybe the Hawks shut things down given their underachievement and play for a high lotto pick. Now? Shit if they get in they can absolutely go on a run, so they're trying. Even someone like LeBron who shit all over the play in idea and demanded the guy who came up with it fired is probably singing a different tune today. The race for the play in spots in the East could legitimately impact the NBA title. You think the Heat or Sixers would be all that thrilled about finishing atop of the East standings if it meant a first round date with Kevin Durant? 

But the beauty of this format is it forces teams in the top 6 to actually keep playing. You can't afford a 3-4 game skid right now with how close things are. That means teams are most likely playing all their stars down the stretch. That makes for better games and a better viewing product for fans. We now have a little bit of a tweak in terms of playoff positioning/load management because the last thing you would want is all of the sudden you find yourself in the play in all because you wanted to maybe avoid a certain matchup. 

It's given the fans a more competitive product which is really what the league should care about the most. The more games they can have that matter and the more teams that aren't load managing all their stars is better for everyone. Even the play in moments we had last year were awesome, like the time Tatum dropped a 50 bomb

The early success of this format pretty much locks in the idea that this is the new normal moving forward. I can't see it going anywhere anytime soon given how awesome it's made the last quarter of the season. But what it should also do is keep you open minded for the other outside the box ideas we hear the league thinking about. I'm way more into the "in season tournament" idea now than maybe I was before. The play in has shown me that this type of innovative thinking and new ideas can actually improve the product. Who's to say that couldn't happen if they continue to tweak/add? 

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I'm down for anything that is going to force NBA teams to try for as long as possible. People pay good money to see the stars play, and it's annoying where if a team is making their only visit to your city at the end of the year, there's a chance you might not see the big names play. Well given the talent balance across the league and how close the standings are, the play in does a decent job in preventing that. We have a playoff feel for some of these games and we're still like 6 weeks from the playoffs even starting.

As a basketball fan, I'm not sure how you couldn't love that.