Kevin Durant ‘Wasn’t A Fan’ Of The In-Season Tournament Initially But Now Loves It

The NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament saw the quarterfinals conclude on Tuesday night with the Bucks thrashing the Knicks and the Lakers beating the Suns in a thriller. The game in L.A. ended with some controversy over a timeout that was granted to the Lakers when the Suns had seemingly forced a turnover in a two-point game, but prior to that it had been another classic duel between LeBron James and Kevin Durant.

Both future Hall of Famers topped 30 points on the evening in signature form, with LeBron relentlessly attacking downhill and Durant putting on a shotmaking display from the midrange and perimeter. After many questioned how much players would care about a new tournament with a $500,000 prize, the IST has delivered some truly spectacular games in November and December, with the intensity from both players and fans clearly ratcheted up a notch or two from the typical regular season game.

That has been fantastic to see and it has turned many of the tournament’s skeptics into believers, including some prominent players. After Tuesday night’s loss, Kevin Durant spoke glowingly about the IST, noting that he “wasn’t a fan” of the idea when it was introduced but is now a “huge fan” after seeing the intensity of the games and the atmosphere it’s produced — noting the buildup to Tuesday in L.A. “felt like a playoff game.”

While the In-Season Tournament hasn’t eliminated blowouts, it has brought some added juice to those games that do end up being close, and it’s been clear that there’s a different energy and effort level from players in those games. A game like last night was particularly important, because we’ve seen how it’s given a purpose to up-and-coming teams like the Pacers, Kings, and Pelicans, seeing a pair of title contenders with legends like LeBron and KD finding that same spark had to be particularly exciting for the league.