The Washington Wizards completed their remarkable season turnaround to clinch the eight seed in the Eastern Conference after beating the Charlotte Hornets Sunday. In normal years, the Wizards would be set for the playoffs. However with the rule adjustment for the 72-game pandemic season, Washington will participate in the play-in tournament to vie for a spot in the playoffs.
When they were battling for 10th in the East, Wizards head coach Scott Brooks had previously endorsed the play-in tournament. But now Brooks has jokingly changed his stance, given his teams ascension in the standings.
Following Washington’s 115-110 win over the Hornets, Brooks hilariously agreed with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James about not liking the play-in tournament.
“I’m with the King. Who created this play-in thing? Whoever did that, they need to be fired,” Brooks joked, per Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Some like the new concept and some don’t much like LeBron James. James recently criticized the idea going as far as saying the person behind it “needs to be fired.”
Unlike Scott Brooks, James wasn’t joking and was adamant about his dislike for the tournament.
His criticism of the play-in tournament coincided with his Lakers drifting back in the Western Conference standings to seventh. Now the defending NBA champions risk having to participate in the play-in tournament despite being in a traditional playoff position.
Despite the critics, one thing is certain, the play-in tournament has created interest for markets who may have already checked out under the previous determination of playoff spots. The buzz behind Sunday’s final day of the regular season led by the Wizards-Hornets battle for eighth or the Lakers and Portland Trailblazers determining who gets sixth in the West and avoids the play-in tournament is a huge positive for the idea.
Yes, there are negatives. But through all it, the play-in tournament has kept fans excited all the way to the final day of the regular season. Surely, the Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs are thanking whoever came up with the idea.
