After successful first season, NBA in-season tournament will 'no doubt ... be back'
The NBA in-season tournament will "no doubt" be back, as will another regular-season game in Paris, commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the Brooklyn Nets' and Cleveland Cavaliers' game in Paris, Silver discussed some of the ideas being floated for the 2024-25 NBA season.
After the IST's initial trial, Silver said he recently met with team presidents to discuss their takeaways and changes they would like to see. Tiebreakers, court appearance and the event's name were a few Silver mentioned.
"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," Silver said via ESPN. "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."
With the 2024 Olympics a few months away from commencing in Paris, Silver then fielded questions about more games returning to the city. The NBA played its first regular-season game in Paris in 2020.
The NBA has 14 French players on rosters, a league record. Especially with San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick, current playing his first season in the league, there's an insatiable appetite for the NBA in France.
Former Spurs guard Tony Parker, who is also French, recently acknowledged that Silver is keeping him booked and busy.
"He's gone from event to event over the last several days, and I said, 'You're going to be even busier in the Olympics, and wait until we're back next year,'" Silver said of Parker. "That hasn't been confirmed yet, but we're very likely to be back next year, and and we're very excited about that.
"In terms of the efficiency, given the scope of the operation bringing two teams over here, we've had conversations with teams that, once they're here, would they potentially play a second game against each other before returning to the States? And that's something we're looking at, potentially even for next season."
On the TV rights negotiating front, which will play a pivotal role in these plans, Silver said not much has changed.
"My sense is over the next month or so those conversations will become more intense as we focus on this exclusive negotiating period," he said. "We'll see whether we can get them done during that period or whether we end up having further discussions beyond that."
