Why the National Basketball Association is trying to be like European soccer is beyond comprehension: We predict that the first star player from a championship-contending team to suffer a major, season-ending injury will put this stupid idea to rest, almost instantaneously. And if it’s just a money grab, how will the fans feel about attending it? This is one of the dumbest things we’ve ever seen in modern-day sports.

And that’s saying a lot.

Yet here’s the thing that too many will claim makes the difference: “All 67 games across both stages of the In-Season Tournament will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship.  Each team will continue to play 82 regular-season games in the 2023-24 season, including those games that are part of Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.” So … this makes it okay to execute, evidently.

Seriously. This way, the league can get the players to do it, and it also can sidestep any controversy if a player does get injured, by claiming it was just part of the regular season anyway. The NBA has had an issue recently with “load management” issues, the practice of resting star players on certain days during the regular season to limit injury exposure and save All-Star players for the inevitable postseason grind.

Undoubtedly, players will feel pressure from fans, mediots, and owners to participate in this silly adventure rather than sitting out games—because of the exposure, hype, and maybe even the payouts associated with this concept: “Players will take home $500,000 for being on the team that wins the NBA Cup, while players on the team that loses in the title game will take home $200,000 each, with players on the semifinal losing teams each getting $100,000 and players on the quarterfinal losers taking home $50,000.”

Uh huh. Many of the stars are making $25M for the season already; a little chump change isn’t going to matter. Here’s the kicker, too: ” … while other incentives were discussed to give players and teams more incentive to be invested in the tournament, such as guaranteeing the winner a playoff spot, ultimately the league opted not to enact any such measures.” So why should LeBron James or Steph Curry care about this?

Good question. Public relations? Nah; they already have the fans on their side. Yet professional basketball already has hooked the foolish for almost three decades now with its charades, so maybe this will be no different. However, we sense that anyone with an ounce of critical-thinking skills will see this is for what it is: a cash grab for the league’s owners, which may or may not filter down to the risk-taking stakeholders.

Hard pass in our corner of the interwebs. Hard pass.