This NBA regular season has been far from regular. The league rushed teams to get back to the hardwood just 60 days after the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat in the Finals in the bubble.
That forced them to have 10 fewer games than usual and also gave them the idea to keep the play-in tournament, giving the teams with the 9th and 10th best record in each conference a chance to make the playoffs.
Needless to say, several players – mostly from the teams in jeopardy of playing in that tournament – have criticized that initiative, including Luka Doncic and more recently LeBron James:
“It doesn’t matter at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter where we land. That’s my mindset. Whether we end as sixth or fifth. Whatever the case may be or if we end up in the Play-in, whatever that thing is. Whoever came up with that s**t needs to be fired. But whatever,” LeBron said.
Steve Kerr Says He Loves The Idea Of A Play-In Tournament
However, it seems like Steve Kerr doesn’t agree with James at all. As a matter of fact, he recently said that he ‘loves’ that idea and that it has made the last weeks of the season way more interesting:
“I love it. The last month’s been infinitely more interesting for NBA fans. It’s great. If you finish 7th and you lose two straight, then you probably weren’t good enough to advance in the playoffs anyway. That’s just the truth,” the Warriors coach told 95.7 The Game.
If the season were to end today, LeBron and the Lakers would have to play vs. Stephen Curry and the Warriors in the 7-8 game, which is perhaps why The King isn’t fond of that play-in tournament anymore.
But, even though it could make it a little bit more exciting, it also put some players’ health at risk, as the teams won’t be able to give them some much-needed rest before the playoffs. So, we’ll have to wait and see whether the league decides to make this a permanent change.