Consider the Celtics of today. Al Horford, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown have all experienced the NBA Finals and several trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a letdown to only reach the conference finals the previous season. In the conference finals, the Celtics had home court advantage, but they still lost Game 7 at home. Apart from ensuring they stay fit and healthy for the postseason, what does the regular season actually mean for these Celtics?

Early NBA season basketball is meant to be exciting thanks to the In Season Tournament. What are your first impressions? Is it? Or do the games appear to be the same despite the variations in court designs and advertising?

What would an In Season Tournament championship mean to the players of a team and it’s fan base? Looking at the standings, my guess is if a team like the Pacers, Nets, Wolves, or Jazz won the tournament it would mean considerably more than if the Bucks or Celtics did.

The In Season Tournament was inspired by similar competitions in European soccer. I suppose how successful it will be will be decided on how important winning it is to NBA players and fans. The NBA All-Star game is more or less a joke with the majority of the players not caring if they win or lose. I love how in NCAA basketball there’s a “Final Four” which actually means something (as opposed to just a champion and the losers).

Also in the NCAA every regular season game matters not just for a post season berth, but to attract the best recruits. Unlike in the NBA, you don’t get rewarded for losing, so if you are a fan of a college team having a lousy season, you’re still rooting for them to win those late season games and to do damage in your conference’s post season tourney.

It’s evident that the NBA struggles to maintain the excitement level throughout the 82-game regular season. There have been suggestions to shorten the regular season, but unless something else takes its place, it will never happen because players and owners would lose out on revenue. Perhaps in subsequent seasons, the In Season Tournament will take the place of the regular season schedule and feature more games. However, it will ultimately depend on how much the participants and spectators value this competition. How much have you cared thus far?