Dallas Mavs' Grant Williams Speaks on NBA In-Season Tournament: ‘It Will Be Incredible’

Mavs forward and NBPA Vice President Grant Williams shared his thoughts on executing the in-season tournament early.

DALLAS — When the Dallas Mavericks faced the Denver Nuggets a week ago, it marked the first slate of qualification games for the inaugural NBA in-season tournament. 

Grant Williams, who currently serves as Vice President of the NBA Player's Association, envisions the concept of the in-season tournament as becoming a significant success for everyone involved with the league. 

"I think it will be incredible for the league, not only for revenue generation but also for competitive balance from the beginning of the season," Williams told DallasBasketball.com in Denver.

"It makes guys not only be mindful of coming into the season in shape but also coming into a season knowing they have, might not, your team may not have the ultimate chance to get to the Larry O'Brien. Every team feels like that in the beginning, but at the same time, you know, you have to be realistic.

"Some teams may view this as their Larry O'Brien for that year. It gives you a nice financial incentive. It also incentivizes you to go to Vegas in the middle of the year."

Dallas Mavericks forward Grant Williams contesting a shot against Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic / Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Before the Mavs played their first In-Season Tournament game, which was a 125-114 loss to the Nuggets, there was an issue with the 3-point line. The arena staff had to re-paint the 3-point line on one side of the court after players at Dallas' morning shootaround noticed the lines were off. 

The 3-point line had to be repainted on the Nuggets’ in-season tournament court. A good catch by whoever fixed that… pic.twitter.com/2gdIB5tx8q

— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) November 3, 2023

Regardless, Williams likes having a different court design from the traditional playing court to give the In-Season Tournament games a different feel. However, as many players have expressed, Williams believes the color scheme could be approached differently. 

"I like the idea of the courts," Williams said. "I like the trophy on the court. Similarly, I want them to return the NBA Finals trophy for those games. I think the court has to complement the team and be mindful of what it looks like when playing on the court; we want to ensure that we can easily see the three-point line and the half-court line."

"I like the idea of the two different colorways in the court, but I think that the main colorway should be like traditional hardwood, and then the traditional other color should be whatever the jersey may be," Williams explained. "And then you accent it similar to how we have the black jerseys; you might have the black streak, but then you have the gray on the outside or gray streak with black on the outside. But that's something that can be discussed in years to come."

The Mavs will play their second of four In-Season Tournament qualification games on Friday when they take on the Los Angeles Clippers at American Airlines Center.