Breaking Down the Surprising Success of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament

The NBA In-Season Tournament has had its fair share of criticism ever since the idea was first floated by Adam Silver. Everything from its merits, the timing and even the bold, colorful court designs drew the ire of basketball purists across the nation. But now, as the tournament heats up in its final stretch, people seem to get it.

Four teams are left standing as the setting shifts to Las Vegas for the semifinals tonight. The Lakers have a chance to add more hardware to the Lakers’ trophy case, but first they’ll have to get past the finally healthy New Orleans Pelicans. And in the East, it’s a clash of two red-hot offenses in the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.

So today, our friend Ramona Shelburne joins the show to tell us what her biggest takeaways from the tournament are, who she thinks has the best chance to bring home the inaugural In-Season Tournament title and how this is exactly what the league wanted all along.

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