> I understand the winners get money, but what about the losers? The Grizzlies just got eliminated, do they now play less games this season?

The losers do not get anything. They do not play fewer games. The games that are part of the tourney are also part of the regular 82-game season. Basically, it’s an 82-game season like any other season, except some of the games double as tourney games. Imagine if last season they just changed the court on some games and said they counted towards a tourney but nothing else changed. It’s like that. They just made sure that when they made the schedule, the teams that needed to play each other in the tourney do so.

>Will the winner of this thing have to play more games this season?

Yes. 28 teams will play 82 games this season, but the two teams that make it to the Tourney Championship will both play 83 games. The championship game is the only added game that is not part of the regular season.

>Do those wins end up on the regular season standing table?

All of the games except the championship game count as regular season games too, so yes. The wins and the losses, before the championship, are still also regular season games.

>Is it just me or does no one care about this thing except the marketing people?

This is incorrect; people do care. But you are not alone in not caring, or in dismissing it. Other people feel that way too. But myself and many others feel it is fun. I can’t say for certain but I feel like more people are digging it than not. I can’t prove that and it may very well be the reverse; it’s just the sense I get. But whichever is the more popular opinion, there are definitely a variety of opinions, positive and negative, about the tourney.