Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Talks NBA In-Season Tournament: 'We Want to Win It'
The NBA has instituted an in-season tournament beginning in the 2023-24 season, and the Golden State Warriors are gunning for it.
"We're going to be highly competitive towards it," new Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. told reporters Thursday. "We want to win it."
The In-Season Tournament will split the league into six groups of five teams, with teams playing four Group Play games built into the regular-season schedule, two at home and two on the road.
The Warriors will play at the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 3, host the Minnesota Timberwolves on on Nov. 14 and San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 24 and travel to face the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 28 as a part of West Group C.
The Warriors were 11-4 against those opponents in the 2022-23 campaign.
If the Warriors have the best record in their group, they'll advance to the knockout stage. They also could reach the next round as one of two wild card teams (one team from each conference with the best record in group games among the second-place finishers).
In total, eight teams will reach the quarterfinals, with all Knockout Round matchups being single elimination. The tournament will conclude with the championship game on Dec. 9.
Across the board, the Warriors seem excited about the new event. Superstar Stephen Curry gave his thoughts to reporters in July:
"It's fun for fans to have something new to kind of lock in, especially early in the year. For us, it doesn't change the regular season schedule in terms of the amount of games we're playing, just the championship game that there's a lot on the line monetarily, the trophy, the narrative of who is kind of the best team in the early part of the season. It's something different. The venue in Vegas will be fun for a lot of fans to come in just for those two, the semifinals and the championship game."
"But it will take an identity of its own over time. It's hard to kind of predict what it's going to feel like or look like from a fan perspective, a player perspective. But again for us, as players, unless you're in the championship game playing for the prize money and the trophy and the pride and all that, it's still 82 games. It's just under a different narrative."
Steve Kerr also spoke out in favor of the tournament saying said it would "add a layer of excitement and energy" to the season.
