Washington Wizards Winless, But Are NBA Players Enjoying In-Season Tournament?

The Washington Wizards haven’t won either of their NBA In-Season Tournament games, but the league’s polling of players shows they’re enjoying the new addition.

The Washington Wizards aren’t expected to win much this season, and in the the all-new NBA In-Season Tournament, they currently have two losses and zero wins. 

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You could say performances by the Wizards are reaching expectations so far. 

Washington isn’t the only winless team in the tournament so far, but they are competing with the New York Knicks - who have yet to play their second game in the tournament but are 0-1 after one - at the bottom of East Group B. 

The only team in the group to have played two games heading into Sunday the Wizards fell victim to the Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets in each team’s first.

But Washington’s players continue to appear to be enjoying themselves this season and in tournament games, with their next coming up November 17th against the Knicks inside Capital One Arena.

Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija (8) makes aa move to the basket y Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (1) during the first half at Capital One Arena / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

And they aren’t the only ones.

According to an NBA.com article players like Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic are also seeing the positives in the tournament taking place early in the regular season.

“It feels great because it’s an In-Season Tournament win,” James said following a recent win. “We’ll take that for sure. There’s $500,000 [per player prize money] on the line - so we’re goin’ for that.”

The financial incentive is a big one, especially for players further down NBA rosters who could earn as much as 33 percent of their current contracts in prize money as a result. 

For those who have more internal motivations, like the pride that comes with winning, the money is nice but so are the opportunities to stack successful performances.

“Every game matters, especially in the In-Season Tournament,” Doncic said. “You’ve got to win every game possible.”

Unfortunately for Washington it wasn’t able to close out a potential win blowing a fourth quarter lead against the Hornets after controlling most of the contest.

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That loss dropped the Wizards to 0-2 in the tournament, and put the team on the outside looking in when it comes to making a push to play for the first ever NBA Cup on December 9th.

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