Spencer Dinwiddie Proposes March Madness-Style Playoff Tournament for NBA

Brooklyn Nets’ player Spencer Dinwiddie has come up with an idea that he believes will make things interesting for the NBA playoffs when they do return to action, according to CBS Sports.

With the current NBA season suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinwiddie wants the NBA, when they do resume the season, to alter the playoffs in a way that will rival the NCAA March Madness Tournament format. The Brooklyn Nets’ player suggests that instead of picking up where the season left off, they can actually start the playoffs immediately with his plan. He has proposed a 30-team March Madness-styled tournament where every team has a legitimate chance to win the NBA championship.

@NBA I think we’re looking at a 28 team tournament. Top 4 seeds get a bye. Teams 27, 28, 29, 30 have the neutral site play in games March madness style in a best of 3.
Then the round of 28 is best of 5.
And then the round of 16 etc proceeds as usual! https://t.co/caaFSdxzS4 pic.twitter.com/02N0rBtbqO

— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) March 14, 2020

The proposal for the tournament would go as follows:

• The top four seeds (currently the Bucks, Lakers, Raptors, and Clippers) get a first-round bye.
• The bottom four seeds (currently the Hawks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Warriors) would play two best-of-three series with the winners advancing to the first round. 
• The 24 teams in that first round would play a best-of-five series. 
• The typical playoffs would resume from there, once only 16 teams remained. 

With this scenario, the fans who missed out on the annual NCAA March Madness would have that aspect of the hype surrounding the college championship with the brackets. It will also give the NBA an option where, depending on the length of the league suspension, won’t have to worry about the season going too far into the summer. It also gives a more interesting look and outcome for the typical NBA fan to create some type of excitement to add to the altering of this year’s All-Star contest where rules and format were changed.