NBA 2023-24 In-Season $18M Tournament Final Four Will Play Vegas In December

By Barry Janoff

UPDATED November 29, 2023: The Knockout Rounds for the NBA’s In-Season Tournament will begin on Dec. 4. The Quarterfinals will be played in home markets, while the Semifinals and Championship will be played in Las Vegas in T-Mobile Arena.

Quarterfinals

Dec. 4: Celtics at Pacers (7:30 PM ET TNT)


Dec. 4: Pelicans at Kings (10 PM ET TNT)

Dec. 5: Knicks at Bucks (7:30 PM ET TNT)

Dec. 5: Suns at Lakers (10 PM ET TNT)

Semifinals

Dec. 7: TBD vs. TBD (5 PM ET, ESPN)

Dec. 7: TBD vs. TBD (9 PM ET TNT)

Championship

Dec. 9: TBD vs. TBD (8:30 PM ET ABC)

UPDATED November 28, 2023: The NBA’s In-Season Tournament semi-finals on Dec. 7 in T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas will have a special production featuring TNT and ESPN studio and game commentators integrated across both networks throughout the night, with one game on each network.

NBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax will include the Inside the NBA studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal alongside ESPN’s NBA Countdown studio team and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Michael Wilbon, live from two on-site set locations.

The Tournament Final is Dec. 9 (ABC). Each member of the championship team will receive $500,000 from a total pool prize of about $18 million.

UPDATED November 1, 2023: The NBA unveiled the national broadcast schedule on TNT, ESPN and ABC for the seven games in the Knockout Rounds of the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament, which begins Nov. 3.

TNT will televise all four games in the Quarterfinals (Dec. 4-5).

For the Semifinals Dec. 7, ESPN will air the first game, TNT will broadcast the second game.

ABC will present the NBA In-Season Tournament Championship on Dec. 9.

The Final Four of the NBA's new in-season tournament will take place on Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas in T-Mobile Arena.

The HeistUPDATED October 30, 2023: The NBA today unveiled the official courts that teams will play on throughout the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament.

The courts, which will be used for Group Play and the Quarterfinals, showcase a distinctive design scheme league-wide, making it instantly clear when a game carries NBA In-Season Tournament implications.

The NBA said the unified look represents the first time that the league has implemented an alternate court for all 30 teams and the first time that any NBA team has played on a fully painted court with no woodgrain details.

This marks the first time five teams will play on an alternate court in the history of the franchises: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers.

All courts featuring fully painted court, edge-to-edge; the NBA Cup at center court and NBA Cup silhouettes in the lanes; contrasting wash of color from lane-to-lane, creating a 16-foot wide “runway” across the court; respective team logos across the NBA Cups and home arena logo.

Some of the teams have also incorporated tag lines to appear on one edge of the court, including: Atlanta Hawks “Lift As We Fly”; Charlotte Hornets “The Hive Is Alive”: Dallas Mavericks “For All Of Dallas-Fort Worth”; and Milwaukee Bucks “FearThe Deer.”

The Tournament begins Nov. 3 with a doubleheader on ESPN when the New York Knicks visit the Milwaukee Bucks and the Denver Nuggets host the Dallas Mavericks.

The NBA last week launched “The Heist,” a multi-platform Hollywood-style campaign supporting the inaugural In-Season Tournament.

UPDATED August 15, 2023: The NBA In-Season Tournament schedule for all 30 teams was revealed today by the NBA.The inaugural In-Season Tournament is scheduled to begin Nov. 3 in NBA team markets and culminate with the Semifinals (Dec. 7) and Championship (Dec. 9) in T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

ESPN, TNT and NBA TV will combine to air 16 games during Group Play.

Games not on national TV will air on each team’s respective local network.Group Play runs Nov. 3-28.Quarterfinals are scheduled for Dec. 4-5.

The national broadcast schedule for the Knockout Rounds will be unveiled at a later date.The NBA In-Season Tournament begins with an ESPN doubleheader on Friday, Nov. 3 when the Milwaukee Bucks host the New York Knicks.

In the second half of the Nov. 3 doubleheader, defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić host the Dallas Mavericks and Luka Dončić.

There will be three additional In-Season Tournament doubleheaders on ESPN on successive Fridays:
• Nov. 10: Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns

• Nov. 17: Sacramento Kings vs. San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns vs. Utah Jazz

• Nov. 24: Miami Heat vs. New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs vs. Golden State WarriorsAll ESPN games will also air in Spanish on ESPN Deportes.

TNT will air doubleheaders on successive Tuesday nights:

• Nov. 14: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City thunder, LA Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets

• Nov. 21: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Utah Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers

• Nov. 28: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors vs. Sacramento Kings

NBA TV will air a doubleheader on Nov. 24: Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns vs. Memphis Grizzlies.

Each of the 22 teams that do not advance to the Quarterfinals of the In-Season Tournament will be assigned two regular-season games (one home game and one away game) that will be played on Dec. 6 and Dec. 8. 

The losing teams in the Quarterfinals in each conference will play each other in a regular-season game on Dec. 8.

UPDATED July 8, 2023: ESPN today hosted a special 30-minute NBA Today  from NBA Con at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to unveil details for the first NBA In-Season Tournament, including dates, competitive structure, locations, trophy unveiling and group drawings.

According to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, “The Final Four of the NBA's new in-season tournament will take place on Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas competing for the NBA Cup trophy inn T-Mobile Arena.

All 30 teams will participate beginning in November. Each member of the championship team will receive $500,000 from a total pool prize of about $18 million.

The pool also includes $200,000 apiece for those on the runner-up team, $100,000 apiece for those on the teams that lose semifinal games and $50,000 for those on the teams that lose in the quarterfinals.

"This is a concept that has been rumbling around the league office for around 15 years," Silver said on the special episode of NBA Today from NBA Con. “We thought what a perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA, and it's a perfect fit for our game.

"New traditions take time. But, all throughout sports, we are seeing new innovations, and now is the time for this NBA in-season tournament."

The NBA did not indicate what role its marketing partners would play in the In-Season Tournament.

The WNBA is in the second season of its in-season Commissioner’s Cup tournament.

Numerous soccer league’s worldwide have in-season competitions, including the NWSL’s Challenge Cup.

Teams are divided by Conference, with three groups of six teams each, selected by a random draw.

Each team will play four games, two at home and two on the road on “Tournament Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 3-28 (with the exception of Election Day on Nov. 7).

The only NBA games played on Tournament Nights will be Group Play games.

The team with the best record after six games moves on, plus a Wild Card team in each conference. The Knockout Round is single-elimination.

The last four teams advance to Las Vegas. “This city knows how to host big events,” Silver said during the event unveiling.

NBA In-Season Tournament

Eastern Conference:

Group A: 76ers, Cavs, Hawks, Pacers, Pistons

Group B: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards, Hornets Group

Group C: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls, Magic


Western Conference:

Group A: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz, Trail Blazers

Group B: Nuggets,Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks, Rockets

Group C: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder, Spurs

After the Championship is played, the NBA will name the Most Valuable Player of the In-Season Tournament and the All-Tournament Team. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.

July 6, 2023: On July 8 ESPN will host a special 30-minute NBA Today (7:30 PM ET) from NBA Con at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to unveil details for the first NBA In-Season Tournament, including dates, competitive structure, locations, trophy unveiling and group drawings.

NBA Today will be joined live by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

According to ESPN, “The Final Four of the NBA's new in-season tournament will take place on Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas.

Statistics will count for the league's regular season, except for the championship game of the event.

The final game will mean two teams will play 83 games during the upcoming season, but the In-Season Tournament final stats will not be included with regular season stats.

According to ESPN, “All teams will participate in the group stage, which will consist of six groups total — three per conference — and chosen by a random draw based on teams' winning percentage the previous season.

“Each team will play four games in its group, with the six group winners making the knockout stage, along with two wild cards who finished with the best winning percentage and not first in their groups.

Knockout-stage games will be single elimination through the final.

NBA Inaugural In-Season Tournament Gets Hollywood Treatment In ‘The Heist’

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