NBA's Inaugural In-Season Tournament a Success, Lakers Crowned Champions

The tournament boosts TV ratings and introduces new stars, with potential changes to the format in the pipeline.

The NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament was a success, with the Los Angeles Lakers emerging as champions and LeBron James winning the tournament's MVP award.
The tournament, which started with group play, saw the introduction of Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton to a national audience during his team's run to the championship game.
The NBA hopes the annual competition will breathe life into a typically sleepy stretch of the season, insert the NBA into a burgeoning sports scene in Las Vegas, and grow the league's value in the fluid yet tenuous media climate.
Television ratings for the tournament were encouraging, with IST games in November averaging 1.48 million viewers for ESPN and TNT, a 19 percent bump compared to similar Tuesday and Friday night games last season.
The NBA has signaled a willingness to tweak the tournament's format in the future, with potential changes including moving the tournament around to different cities each year, and making regular-season record as of the last group game the first tiebreaker for advancing in the IST.