As the NBA continues to push forward with its efforts to bring an in-season tournament to the league, officials are now considering a lucrative offer to get players to buy into the proposal.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA is considering pitching players on a prize pool for the champion of an in-season tournament that would award each player $1 million.
In order for commissioner Adam Silver to move forward with his idea and put it into action, he needs approval from the NBA Players’ Association and a two-thirds vote from NBA owners.
In the league’s reported proposal, the tournament would begin after Thanksgiving with all 30 teams competing in a divisional group stage. From there, the tournament would then advance until a champion was crowned.
Currently, many NBA players have extreme reservations about such a significant change to the NBA schedule and one that would force players to compete in a mid-season tournament without a real championship being on the line.
As for the owners, concern reportedly centers around potentially losing home games during the season and the money it would lose from ticket and jersey sales during that time.
The NBA has until the Board of Governors meeting in April to land approval for the new schedule to be put in place for the 2021-’22 season.