9 Biggest Winners and Losers of the First Ever NBA In-Season Tournament

I was excited about the NBA In-Season Tournament. I’m all in on finding ways to make games in November matter. The Lakers beat the Pacers 123-109. LeBron adds another bullet point to his resume while Indiana proved they aren’t some vague team of the future. They’re here now.

Let’s start with the winners of the NBA In-Season Tournament:

1. LeBron James

LeBron James is so old, there were still NEW EPISODES OF FRIENDS BEING AIRED WHEN HE WAS DRAFTED.

And yet, 100 years later, it is still cool to see this old-timer lift MVP trophies over his head.

He had two consecutive 30-point games in the knockout round.

He was the best player in this tournament.

When the games matter most (and he’s not playing against the Denver Nuggets) LeBron can still decide to become the best basketball player on the planet again.

Now, I don’t care much about his legacy. Those conversations are for ESPN shows in the middle of summer when they have no NFL or NBA games to discuss. Or when you’re at the bar and an older guy wants to talk hoops but hasn’t watched since Ewing retired.

But adding ‘first-ever NBA In-Season Tournament MVP’ to his resume will sound good in these Michael Jordan debates.

Once Bronny gets to the NBA and LeBron plays alongside his son, that’ll be another W over MJ—whose son is currently banging his old teammate Scottie Pippen.

Bonus fatherhood points to LeBron.

2. Anthony Davis

Let’s quickly run through what AD did in that Finals game against the Indiana Pacers:

41 points
16-for-24 from the field
9-for-13 free throws
20 rebounds
5 assists
4 blocks
+13 +/-

I have never seen Anthony Davis look the way he did in those Finals.

Every time the camera cut to him, he was roaring and pounding his chest like this was the most important basketball game of his life.

Anthony Davis is LOCKED IN 😤 pic.twitter.com/7uxHtn2RZF

— Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) December 10, 2023

At one point in this game, Austin Reeves split a double team, drove to the rim and was fouled at the bucket. Anthony Davis screamed and chest-bumped Reeves so hard I thought Austin would cough up blood.

I have no idea why Davis was so locked in and expressive but if this man has found another level he can unlock for big games, I genuinely believe this Lakers team could fuck around and end up with another ring.

Or perhaps AD is only the baddest man on the planet on neutral courts and thankfully a natural disaster and a brand new tournament have allowed him to show this side of himself.

3. Cam Reddish

Cam Reddish was always able to get buckets and generate deflections on defense.

Just, ya know, it had to be on his time.

When he felt like it.

One of those cats that will play All-Star level defense as long as he is making shots on the other end and has the courtside IG models pointing and asking each other “Who is that?”

His inconsistency always made me call him Scam Reddish but LeBron has empowered him to believe he could be great on a nightly basis and now he’s turning into one of the most important role players in the NBA.

4. Tyrese Haliburton

As a Knicks fan, it takes all of my self-control to not completely hate Tyrese Haliburton.

For the rest of his career, unfunny dorks will bring up the Knicks drafting Obi Topping instead of Haliburton and then trading Toppin to the Pacers to go play with Haliburton.

Sometimes I see Tyrese in that Pacers jersey and all I can think of is Reggie Miller.

I start making that Arthur fist.

BUT we are witnessing an all-time great player.

Whether it’s Jokic’s assists numbers for a big man or Westbrook’s triple-doubles or Harden’s scoring performances, I think we take greatness for granted.

Tyrese Haliburton has too many games with 10+ assists and no turnovers to be treated like a regular player.

He’s historically great already and he’s doing it with Buddy Hield bricking 3’s and Myles Turner being a whole-ass weirdo.

5. Aaron Nesmith

I want to give a quick shout-out to Aaron Nesmith who looked unplayable in his first two years with the Boston Celtics and has now become a crucial instrument to winning in Indiana.

My man plays like he’s never going back again. You know what I mean?

Aaron Nesmith snags the ball and Tyrese Haliburton sends it downcourt to Obi Toppin for the slam 💥 pic.twitter.com/Rlin9sYPIV

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) December 10, 2023

6. Las Vegas sex workers

Not only did all 15 players on the Lakers roster win $500,000 but all of the coaches did as well.

The way Anthony Davis was playing in that Finals, he must’ve already had his eyes on a spot he saw on the drive in from the airport.

No doubt Darvin Ham was motorboating some fake tits this weekend.

That’s a motorboating ass man if I ever did see one.

And now onto the Losers of the NBA In-Season Tournament…

1. Giannis Antetokoumpo

This tournament put a spotlight on how strange Giannis has been acting recently.

For this ego-less, foreign superstar who loves Milwaukee and doesn’t make friends with opponents in the offseason because he’s so locked in on winning—he sure seems reluctant to fully allow the clock to strike Dame Time.

Bobby Portis publicly shit on the coaching already so maybe it’s not a Dame issue as much as it’s an Adrian Griffin issue but either way, Giannis is being weird and the vibes in Wisconsin are atrocious.

It took years but Giannis slowly becoming Homelander might be the biggest twist of the 2023-24 NBA season.

2. Zion Williamson

We can have the body shaming discourse all we want but any time Zion Williamson plays on national TV, he is going to remind a lot of fans how out of shape he is.

He looked super-human at Duke.

He looks super hungry in New Orleans.

My advice for Zion: if you don’t want people to keep calling you fat, stop being fat.

He was embarrassed this offseason by a porn star with his same exact body type.

With Ja Morant out for guns and the Warriors looking old as hell, the West is wide open.

And the Pelicans aren’t ready to seize this opportunity because Zion is without a doubt eating Popeyes right now.

And it doesn’t even matter what time of day or how far into the future you’re reading this.

Zion is eating Popeyes.

At 23 years old, you couldn’t tell me nothing.

And I had significantly fewer dollars than Zion.

But I also didn’t have people going on TV every day calling me a loser and the financial resources to have 90 abs if I wanted.

The only thing stopping him is motivation which is why I’m 1000% okay with bullying him until he is shamed onto a treadmill.

I will quickly say, in Zion’s defense, I’d much rather him be obsessed with porn and snacks than what Josh Giddey is into.

3. Chicago Bulls

Detroit, San Antonio, Washington, Memphis and Chicago all went winless in the NBA In-Season Tournament but it was Chicago specifically that had a problem with the point differential rule because teams were running the score up on them.

DeMar DeRozan was earlier ejected late in the Bulls vs. Raptors In-Season matchup and daps up Masai Ujiri on his way to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/YLtbO4MLpM

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 25, 2023

Here’s a rule similar to my Zion advice: if you don’t want a team to run up the score on you then stop letting them score.

These teams crying about point differential were acting like they had no control in the matter. You could simply play defense instead of begging for a Little League mercy rule.

You know it’s time to blow up a team when they’re crying about how they are being blown out instead of just not letting themselves get blown out. The Bulls blow.

4. NBA fans who hate the NBA

I no longer write based on what people are saying on Twitter because Twitter isn’t real life.

It’s mostly a handful of unhappy dweebs intentionally whining and complaining like DeMar DeRozan so they can get likes and retweets or honestly, any sort of human interactions to help get them through their days.

But it’s impossible to ignore the number of people against the color of the courts or the overall insignificance of this tournament while simultaneously watching the intensity of these games.

These were the most competitive basketball games in the history of December and snarky contrarians want to tell you not to care about this.

Anthony Davis was playing so hard I would not have been shocked if he blocked a shot and tears rolled down his face.

People who like basketball are going to watch competitive basketball. Also, people enjoy watching their favorite teams/players win things.

If the Knicks won this tournament I would have become ungovernable. I’m personally scheduling parades all over Long Island.

Thanks for reading. Go ahead and sign up for the D, the daily Deadseriousness newsletter sent directly to your inbox every AM.