With the new 2023-24 NBA season having kicked off in October, there has been a very important change to the league. Starting this season, the league will have a new tournament, known as the NBA In-Season Tournament or the NBA Cup, in which all 30 teams will participate during the regular season. The winning team is entitled to a cash prize of $500,000 per player, as well as a new tournament trophy. 

An unexpected addition to the tournament was the new courts. Each team had specially designed courts just for the in-season tournament. However, some fans, like FHS sophomore Alessandro Alvarez, are not too fond of the new designs. 

“The new court designs were pretty bad,” Alvarez said. “However, I feel like the players were much more competitive during the in-season tournament games.” 

Another worry was that this new change would decrease the viewership. This was quickly put to rest, as viewership has increased by 20% compared to last year’s November Friday night games, according to ESPN.  

The format of the In-Season Tournament is much like the FIFA World Cup. The 30 teams were split into six groups, each consisting of five teams within their conference. Each team played the other four teams in their respective group group throughout the month of November. The six teams with the most significant standing in their group, along with two “wild card” teams will move on to the knockout stage. Wild card teams are teams who came second in their respective groups but still ended up with the highest standings in their conferences of teams that did not make the knockout stage. 

After the bracket was decided, the knockout rounds began. They are single-elimination games in an eight-team bracket. The teams that made the knockout stages in the west are the Los Angeles Lakers, the Phoenix Suns, the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans. In the east, the teams that made it are the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers and finally the Boston Celtics. 

A beloved team in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Golden State Warriors, lost to the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, Nov. 

28 to determine who would move on to the next stage. The Warriors needed to win by a score of 12 or more to advance, which seemed very probable as they were up by 24 points during the first half of the game However, the Kings clawed their way back and made a last-minute comeback against the Warriors, breaking the hearts of many fans such as FHS freshman Vishrut Tarte.

“I’m really disappointed,” Tarte said. 

“I think the Golden State Warriors have fallen off.”

However, with the in-season tournament likely becoming a yearly tradition in the NBA, Warriors fans at FHS have high hopes for next year, especially with the NBA playoffs in April. Even though the Warriors are currently eleventh in the Western Conference standings, there is still a long season ahead of them to make the playoffs. 

Additionally, there was still hope for other teams who are favored by students at FHS. For example, after defeating the Phoenix Suns with a final score of 103-106, the Los Angeles Lakers moved on to the quarter finals bracket to face off against the New Orleans Pelicans.

This match had mixed reactions from students at FHS, as the Lakers won against the Pelicans with a staggering final score of 44 points. Although the whole team played well, a centerpiece of their victory was Lebron James, as he finished the game with a stat line of 30 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds in just 23 minutes. The Pelicans were unable to respond to this as none of their players scored over 15 points. 

In the Eastern Conference finals, The Indiana Pacers upset the Milwaukee Bucks winning with a final scored of 128-119. Even though the 2x MVP Giannis Antetekounmpo got 37 points and 10 rebounds, the Pacers’ star Point Guard Tyrese Haliburton only contributed 27 points and 15 assists, with 0 turnovers. Pair this with amazing performances from the rest of the team and it was a very tough battle for the Bucks. 

With the Finals having just passed on Dec. 9, the first-ever In-Season Tournament came to an end. There were many mixed feelings from fans of all kinds within the NBA community. Despite this, many fans of teams that failed this year are hoping for better results in the next NBA Cup.