Joel Embiid shares his thoughts on the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament

Joel Embiid recently commented on the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament that will begin on Friday, November 4th and run through the early part of December. 

The NBA In-Season Tournament will begin on Friday, November 3rd with the Championship on Saturday, December 9th.  The Semifinals (Thursday, Dec. 7) and Championship will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Group Play

The In-Season Tournament will consist of two stages: Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.

All 30 teams were drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2022-23 regular season. Beginning Friday, November 3rd and continuing through Tuesday, November 28th, each team will play four designated Group Play games on “Tournament Nights” – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road.

Knockout Rounds 

Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds. The team with the best standing in Group Play games in each of the six groups and two “Wild Card” teams will continue in the tournament. 

The Knockout Rounds will be single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (played in NBA team markets on Monday, Dec. 4 and Tuesday, Dec. 5), Semifinals and Championship. The qualifying teams will compete for a prize pool and the new In-Season Tournament trophy, the NBA Cup.

Note: All 67 games across both stages of the In-Season Tournament will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship.  Each team will continue to play 82 regular-season games in the 2023-24 season, including those games that are part of Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.

Full Breakdown of the NBA In-Season Tournament Here >>

Joel Embiid on the NBA In-Season Tournament 

“I’m not sure,” star Joel Embiid said of the in-season tournament. “I think it could be good. We’ve got used to the Larry O’Brien being the main trophy that everybody wants so it’s got to take a little adjusting to kind of figure out that something else is also as important as the main trophy, but, you know, it’s always been about the Larry O’Brien.”

“Then again, it’s another chance to compete,” Embiid finished. “It’s all about winning every single game. Not really too focused on the in-season tournament. I’m more focused about just winning every single game and wherever that takes us based on that cup, I guess then you have a chance to compete for more.” via SixersWire 

76ers begin Tournament on November 10th vs Detroit Pistons

The Philadelphia 76ers are in Group A along with the Detroit Pistons, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks.

The first in-season game for the Sixers will be on Nov. 10 when they take on the Pistons on the road.

Honestly, I wasn’t a fan of the NBA In-Season Tournament idea but over the past few weeks, I have completely changed my mind, mainly because if you’re a basketball fan then you probably already know that you don’t really even have to pay attention to anything that happens before Christmas, which I consider to be the unofficial start of the NBA season.

Who knows if this will work, but as Embiid said, it’s another chance for the 76ers and really all teams around the NBA a chance to compete for something in the early part of the NBA season. For the Sixers specifically, it’s a great opportunity to play for something while the team is (knock on wood) healthy. We all know what happens every time the playoffs arrive and to have something at stake early in the season can only be a good thing, right?

Plus, it would be absolutely hilarious to win the NBA Cup and have a parade down Broad Street.

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