Silver: Idea of in-season tournament drawing 'fair amount of interest'

NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes the idea of introducing an annual in-season tournament has started to gain traction in league circles.

"I think we were moving closer to it," Silver said of putting on an in-season tournament, according to Yahoo Sports' Vince Goodwill.

"But I feel we've had productive conversations with the Players Association, whose approval, of course, would be required to change the format. And my sense is there's a fair amount of interest."

Talks between the NBA and NBPA surrounding a potential in-season tournament reportedly began gaining renewed traction back in December. The proposed event would take place in the weeks leading up to Christmas and could reportedly feature a $1-million payout per player for members of the winning team.

Silver believes players would warm to the idea in due time.

"There's tournaments (in other sports) along the way where players, I'm sure, feel an extra boost of competitiveness around winning a particular trophy," Silver said. "And that's what we're looking at. It's complicated."

The WNBA has tried its hand at an in-season tournament, introducing the Commissioner's Cup in 2021. The competition spanned the first half of the league's campaign, with regular-season games counting towards the overall Commissioner's Cup standings.