The first year of the NBA's In-Season Tournament concluded Saturday in Las Vegas, with the Lakers taking home the title after defeating the Pacers. Response to the tournament has been largely positive from publications across the U.S.:
- In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote the IST was a “rousing success.” What Saturday’s championship game proved, with its “intensity, passion, and determination from the participants,” was that this idea adopted from European soccer was “completely embraced” (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/10).
- ESPN.com’s Tim Bontemps wrote the IST has “accomplished what the league hoped it would over the past few weeks” and has “set itself up to be a permanent fixture on the NBA's calendar moving forward” (ESPN.com, 12/9).
- In D.C., Ben Golliver noted the tournament’s 67th game “proved to be a fervent finale” for an event that “largely exceeded expectations by delivering intense elimination games and improved television ratings (WASHINGTON POST, 12/9).
- YAHOO SPORTS’ Jake Fischer wrote it is “unequivocal” that the league’s first attempt to “insert another competition into its regular season was triumphant in terms of conversation and greater intrigue.” Lakers F LeBron James’ “buy-in to this experimental competition may be the most essential ingredient to the event’s unabashed success” (YAHOO SPORTS, 12/10).
- In Las Vegas, Sam Gordon noted the Strip was “filled Saturday with NBA marketing across its many marquees, embracing the first In-Season Tournament as much as the players who have enthusiastically participated over the past several weeks” (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 12/9).
- In L.A., Dan Woike wrote the IST "was everything the NBA could've wanted" (L.A. TIMES, 12/9).
- ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst wrote "one things was for certain" about Saturday night's contest: "It was treated like an elimination game" (ESPN.com, 12/10).
- USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt wrote the NBA was one of the winners of the IST. Star players "were on the court for IST games," which in general "were competitive and starts performed" (USA TODAY, 12/9).
- The AP’s Mark Anderson noted that among those in attendance for Saturday’s final were Basketball HOFers Julius Erving and Shaquille O’Neal, Pro Football HOFers Tim Brown and Shannon Sharpe, former tennis player Steffi Graf, former boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., chef Bobby Flay, artist Flavor Flav and members of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, including WNBA Finals MVP A’Ja Wilson (AP, 12/10).
THE KING'S GAMBIT: The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney said James “treated really this entire tournament like something worth winning." That in itself has made the tournament "something worth winning” (“The Bill Simmons Podcast,” THE RINGER, 12/8). ESPN’s Frank Isola said there was a “lot of confusion, some apathy among NBA players when the tournament started." However, largely because of James, players "are going to understand the importance of it.” ESPN's Michael Wilbon said the NBA is "lucky to have” James in the league. He also suggested that the league "needs LeBron’s name on that trophy." Wilbon: "When you talk about the first and going forward, it’s going to mean something to younger players coming after that LeBron cared this much” ("PTI," ESPN, 12/8).
