"To win the FA Cup": Adam Silver highlights international players being great during the In-season Tournament, while admitting he stole the idea

Speaking about the in-season tournament, Adam Silver gave a specific shoutout to the international players in the league. He feels that they've been able to quickly grasp the idea because of where the thought originated from.

Silver sat down with JJ Redick on "The Old Man and The Three" podcast to discuss a wide array of topics. Among the things discussed was the in-season tournament. This week, the knockout round will take place, with the championship game to be played on Saturday.

Silver cited that the NBA's international players have been a big help this year, as they are used to seeing these types of tournaments being played. The commissioner compared it to professional soccer overseas, where he got the idea from.

"The international players, which are roughly a quarter of our league, have more familiarity with these sort of cup tournaments because we stole the idea from international soccer," Silver said.

"They were quick to get it and also understand the tradition that it's meaningful to win the FA cup or something like that."

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Adam Silver is pleased with the response he's seen for the NBA in-season tournament

With this being the first year, there was no telling how the league was going to respond to the in-season tournament. Nevertheless, Adam Silver is more than pleased with the reaction he has seen from players and teams across the NBA.

While talking with JJ Redick, Silver shared his toughts from his perspective. Based on the responses he got on his travels over the month, he feels that the response to the in-season tournament has been positive overall.

"I love the excitment we're starting to see. I've traveled a fair amount already in just the first couple weeks of the season and talking to teams and players, they seem to be getting up for it."

One team that has been heavily invested in taking home the NBA Cup is the Indiana Pacers. Their emotions were running high on Monday night during the final minute of their quarterfinal matchup against the Boston Celtics.

Led by a triple-double performance from Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers were able to knock off the Celtics and advance to the semifinals. They face the winner of the matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks.

As for the Western Conference, the New Orleans Pelicans picked up a quarterfinal win over the Sacramento Kings. They are now locked in to face either the LA Lakers or Phoenix Suns in the semifinals.