Shaq and LeBron agree: The idea of a “play-in” tournament for lower-ranked teams to get into NBA post-season play is a bad idea.
When it comes to last season (which saw Shaq’s Lakers win the NBA Championship), there were a lot of needed changes, brought about by the pandemic. The 2019-2020 season will forever be remembered as “The Bubble” season that saw all playoff-eligible teams finishing their regular season schedules and play all playoff games at one location at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Of course the entire “bubble” thing meant the season didn’t end until much later than the regular schedule, due to the time-off when sports and the rest of the world pretty much came to a full stop over pandemic stay-at-home orders. Bubble play made for quite the interesting TV viewing experience: Empty stands, but some fans virtually in attendance through big-screen monitors and internet connections (thanks, Microsoft Teams!).
After last season, a change was introduced for postseason play that you may have not been aware of: It’s the very-controversial play-in tournament. In past years, the top eight teams in the Eastern and Western Divisions won their way into the playoffs. Now with the play-in, teams ranked down to the 10th seed potentially have a shot of making the postseason.
The play-in tournament is something everyone associated with the game seems to have an opinion on… and a strong one, at that. Warriors superstar Stephen Curry likes the opportunities provided by this play-in tournament. On the other hand, players like LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Draymond Green are completely against the same idea.
And not just current players. Former Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t like the play-in either. “I don’t ever want to see this tournament ever again” Shaq said on a recent podcast episode.
Now, Shaq and Lebron still have some very different opinions on the play-in. O’Neal says he likes the idea “for this year,” but doesn’t want it to continue into future seasons. LeBron was a little more (OK, a lot more) firm with his opinion, saying that whoever thought of the idea “should be fired.”
Shaq: “These two years, I am okay with it. But if you are trying to change the rules and say ‘forever’, (then) I am in agreement with LeBron James. ” Shaq says something had to be done during last year’s bubble-shortened season, and it’s OK to do something a little different this season, too.
“Because you know last year with the Bubble, shortened games and this year starting the season late and ending late – I am in for the Play-in tournament. But after this, I don’t ever want to see it again.”
Why is the play-in idea getting such bad reviews? It’s totally possible that teams “on the bubble” (a racing term, not the “bubble” season), could be moved into worse playoff tournament slots due to just a few bad games at the end of the regular season.
The good side? The opportunity for even more teams that would normally go home for the summer to continue playing in the postseason. Who knows? Maybe some team gets hot in the last few regular-seaon games and makes a playoff run. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out this year… and maybe in future seasons.