By: Will Collett and Nicky Kilmon
By Will Collett
The Los Angeles Lakers just won the first ever NBA In-Season Tournament. The NBA In-Season Tournament is a tournament in the middle of the season, and the winning team gets $500,000 for every player on the team. There were some changes from regular season games, most notably the courts and the city edition jerseys that go with the courts.
All the teams were organized into six groups. There was a group stage and knockout rounds. There were four teams from the east and four from the west. The teams qualified were the teams at the top of their group and the next best team (based off of point differential and their group stage record). In the west, the seeding was Los Angeles Lakers 1 seed, Sacramento Kings 2 seed, New Orleans Pelicans 3 seed, and Phoenix Suns 4 seed. In the east, the seeding was Milwaukee Bucks 1 seed, Indiana Pacers 2 seed, Boston Celtics 3 seed, and New York Knicks 4 seed.
A very noticeable difference from regular NBA games was the uniforms and the courts. I thought that it was a nice touch because if you were a viewer you could tell it was the in season tournament in an instant. It’s also cool because the color scheme went with the home team’s jerseys and the colors were special to them. There was also a new trophy for the winning team. It has a circular black base, with eight golden prongs holding up a matte black hollowed out half ball. There are also tons of different details that you wouldn’t be able to tell at first glance. one of those details being that it is 23’’ tall, the inaugural year of the tournament. Another detail is that there are eight prongs because only eight teams make it to the knockout round.
via: ….And how does it affect LeBron James’s legacy?
By Nicky Kilmon
How does winning the first ever in-season tournament affect LeBron James’ legacy and possible G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) status? It depends on who you ask. Well, first off, he will always be the first to win this tournament and that can not be taken from him not to mention if he wins another in season tournament and a championship with his mediocre at best Lakers then he will definitely be in the G.O.A.T. debate with people like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and even Bill Russell.
Now, if you look at LeBron’s other accolades, you can see he has won four championships and is the all time leading scorer. LeBron can always be overpassed for the all time leading scorer, but he will always have four rings and the first in season tournament win. Now, it would be unfair to compare his in-season tournament wins to Micheal Jordan’s victories or any other person in the G.O.A.T. debate as they did not have the opportunity to even play the in season tournament.
But if they did would they win? I personally think yes, Michael Jordan would win and so would people like Bird and Magic. Now, if you ask me, LeBron will never be comparable to MJ, but LeBron has done so much for the NBA and basketball in his career; it would be impossible to forget about his 3-1 comeback against the Warriors.
