The play-in tournament quietly fixed the NBA tanking problem and nobody wants to give it credit
Remember when the last six weeks of the NBA regular season were basically unwatchable for half the league? Teams sitting outside the top six would openly pack it in, rest everyone, and race each other to the bottom for better lottery odds. The play-in changed that almost overnight. Now the seventh through tenth seeds are fighting for their playoff lives in April, which means more teams are actually trying to win late, which means more meaningful games for the fans who paid for tickets. It is not perfect and the true bottom-feeders still tank shamelessly, but the middle of the league suddenly has a reason to compete again. For once the league office got one right. [Liberty Ballers' breakdown](https://www.libertyballers.com/2025/4/10/24404083/play-in-tournament-flattened-lottery-odds-nba-solutions-have-made-tanking-worse-sixers-warriors) covers exactly how the format changed tanking incentives. I honestly do not understand the people who still hate it.