There's renewed momentum for the creation of a future in-season NBA tournament among the league's 30 teams, sources told ESPN.
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have been discussing elements of the tournament, which could become part of the calendar as soon as the 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 seasons, sources said.
Negotiations have centered on an in-season tournament that would begin with pool play as part of the regular-season schedule prior to teams with the best records advancing to an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that would culminate prior to Christmas, sources said. The proposal would also shorten the regular-season from 82 to 78 games, sources said.