On December 9, 2023, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 123-109 to win the first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament championship. LeBron James was the tournament’s MVP, averaging 26.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.6 assists on 56.8% shooting from the field.
The in-season tournament has proven to be a resounding triumph. Simply examine the statistics. The number of local viewers for group-play games has surged by 20% compared to games played in November of the previous year. National games have experienced an impressive increase of 26%. Additionally, League Pass viewership during the seven group-play nights has risen by 25%. The league’s average attendance for November reached its peak at 18,206, while the NBA’s application and social media platforms achieved their highest number of video views (3.9 billion) in the first month of the season, surpassing all previous records.
Given all the stated facts above, it was considered to be a certainty for the NBA to bring the Tournament back next year.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has affirmed that the in-season tournament will undoubtedly return next season, albeit with certain undisclosed adjustments. Additionally, it is highly probable that there will be another regular-season excursion to Paris, potentially featuring multiple games for the selected teams. Silver addressed these potentialities for the 2024-25 schedule on Thursday, prior to the NBA’s third regular-season game between the Brooklyn Nets and Cleveland Cavaliers in Paris.
“We are pleased with the success after the first season and no doubt it will be back next year, probably with just a couple of tweaks. Then beyond that, as we’re talking to television partners, maybe figuring out exactly when the best time of year is to do it, maybe it will make sense to make some other modifications to the format, those are things we’ll look at.”
