As the 2025-26 NBA season draws to a close, fans across the nation are preparing for the highly anticipated Play-In Tournament—an event so crucial that the NBA has introduced a companion “Pre-Play-In” Play-In Tournament to determine which teams are eligible to participate in the actual Play-In Tournament.

Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the public in a livestream hosted exclusively on the obscure platform HoopsPlus, explaining the move. “We wanted to give every team—yes, even the Charlotte Hornets—a mathematical chance to experience the thrill of almost making the playoffs,” Silver said, standing next to a whiteboard with the words ‘Second Chances for 13th Seeds’ hastily written in dry-erase marker.

According to league insiders, the Pre-Play-In Play-In Tournament will feature the 11th through 14th seeds in each conference, who will face off in a series of coin tosses, free-throw contests, and a round-robin basketball trivia game moderated by Charles Barkley. This innovative approach reportedly came in response to a suggestion by Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, whose team recently slipped from playoff contention due to “excessive mathematicians in the analytics department.”

“Honestly, we just want to watch the Knicks play basketball for as long as possible,” said NBA Senior Scheduling Coordinator Lisa Drummond. “Nothing gets the ratings up like New York-based heartbreak at least two extra times a season.”

The Play-In Tournament will stream live on 14 different platforms, including NBA TV, Twitch, Quibi (re-launched exclusively for this), and as a pop-up window on Microsoft Excel for workplace convenience.