NBA debuts court designs for in-season tournament. Why aren't these big names all in?

The NBA's first in-season tournament tips off this week, and the league just released unique court designs for each team. The competition, which is an addition to the regular season, begins Friday and concludes with a championship game Dec. 9 in Las Vegas. The prize is the inaugural NBA Cup and $500,000.

The concept draws inspiration from international sports, college basketball tournaments and soccer. The National Women's Soccer League has the Challenge Cup, which was played during the regular season this year and made history as the first women's tournament to give the winner $1 million. The NBA's in-season tournament has similarities to FIFA's World Cup structure with teams playing in groups and then advancing to a knockout round and a championship. And all the games, aside from the final, will count toward the regular-season standings, according to NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The league is heavily promoting the in-season tournament and explaining to fans how it works, but some people still aren't buying it.

NBA debuts special court designs for in-season tournament

All 30 NBA teams will have a special court design for their in-season tournament games. The courts are completely painted with teams' colors and each feature a 16-foot runway strip across the center. Each design has the NBA Cup at the center and a logo or mark that goes with the home team's special edition uniforms.

This is the first time the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans will ever have an alternate design for their court.

NBA releases 'The Heist' promo video

The NBA released a promotional video called "The Heist" ahead of the in-season tournament. The spot is a spin-off of "Ocean's Eleven," the 2001 thriller where an all-star cast plans to rob a series of casinos in Las Vegas.

For the short film, "The Sopranos" actor Michael Imperioli, sets the scene in "the most unpredictable city in the world" where the seminfinals and championship of the tournament will be held. He narrates a storyline where several NBA stars plot to steal the NBA Cup trophy. Anthony Davis plays blackjack while DeMar DeRozan and Trae Young face off in an elevator. Draymond Green goes undercover as a security guard and Kawhi Leonard is totally believable as "an inside man, someone who's everywhere and nowhere."

Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith cautious on hype for in-season tournament

While fans will have to wait to see how the tournament plays out, a handful of NBA legends are cautious about the idea.

Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley shared their thoughts on the tournament with USA TODAY Sports ahead of their "Inside the NBA" show last week to mark the opening of the NBA season between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers.

“Of course you gotta play in it. If you can win it, cool," O'Neal said. "I wouldn’t want to be known for winning back-to-back in-season tournament championships. I guess you could rate it similar to having an All-Star ring or MVP trophy. It would be something I would have fun in, and if I’m having a good game or a good time, I’ll build on it. But it’s not something I’m circling down on my calendar.”

Smith compared the idea to when the NBA introduced the play-in games in the 2021-2022 season. He said it took him a while to understand the tweak to the playoffs, but it grew on him. While acknowledging the NBA did its research and is probably drawing inspiration from other sports and leagues who have an in-season competition, he has yet to buy-in.

“I’m interested to see how it goes because I wasn’t sure about the play-in and then all of a sudden, that’s like super exciting," he said. "Obviously, the NBA has thought about it and seen it in other places and they say, ‘Oh, that’s super exciting.' I haven’t seen that or felt it."

LeBron James was among those who criticized the initial idea of the play-in tournament before it was officially adopted. It was introduced during the 2019-2020 season, which finished in the NBA Bubble due to the COVID pandemic. The Lakers have been in the play-in tournament twice, including last season when they beat the Timberwolves to capture the No. 7 seed and vaulted themselves all the way to the Western Conference finals.

"All of a sudden, now, we’re all waiting, like who’s gonna be in the play-in? Who’s gonna get one more win?" Smith continued. "Now the play-in’s exciting. So hopefully, they’re foreseeing things that we haven’t. But right now, I’m not excited about it, only because I don’t know it. I haven’t felt it yet."

Barkley had a lot of questions about the in-season tournament and wondered what the incentive is for players who already make millions of dollars.

"For these guys, $500,000 dollars, I don’t want to insult anybody at home, but I’m not sure $500,000 is a lot of money to these guys," he said. "If you win the in-season tournament and don’t win the big championship, like, do you put a banner up for the in-season tournament? I don’t think so."

Barkley said he was looking forward to asking the commissioner about the play-in tournament to help him further understand the concept.

"I’m not sure what the deal is to be honest with you," he said. "What are the pros and cons?

"I don’t know the pros. I know the cons. I don’t know the pros. So I am concerned about the in-season tournament. … I just don’t understand."

Adam Silver answers questions about NBA in-season tournament

Silver was ready to answer questions about the in-season tournament, which was introduced as part of the league's collective bargaining agreement that was agreed to in April.

"We've been talking about this concept for a while and I'd say by the time we agreed to it with bargaining with the players this past summer, it was pretty universal that guys were accepting that seemed like a good idea," he said.

The commissioner added that with exception of the final game, "these games count in the standings. These are part of the regular season, they're part of the record that determines playoff and playoff seeding."

Even though the format might be new to some in the United States, Silver said others in the league are already familiar with the idea of a secondary competition.

"The international players know the concept well." he said. "There's a long history of other cups, other competitions. College does it here, they'll do a Thanksgiving tournament or a Christmas tournament or whatever else. So it's a separate competition, prizes, financial prizes and a new tradition we hope we can create."