So essentially, this is to draw interest of casual NBA fans, as well as fans who are all wrapped up with college and NFL football.
It’s also a way, obviously, to sell a bunch of hideous merch.
The problem is the times I’ve been asked by occasional NBA fans to explain the purpose of the tourney and how it works, I get blank looks as though I’m speaking Chinese.
It’s way too complicated for the fans the NBA is trying to attract. Let’s be honest.
It’s really not complicated. There’s 6 groups of 5, 3 in each conference. All teams in the groups play each other. The winner of the group advances to the quarts. There’s one wild card from each conference that moves on too. There are tie breakers if teams have the same record in the group or wild card. After that it’s a simple 8 team tournament for the winner.
The purpose is money and a bit more meaning to some early season games.