So a prevalent viewpoint is that people won’t care about this tournament since it doesn’t really impact playoff seeding. One way to make players really care without being too ridiculous like guaranteeing a playoff bid, is to make the final game count for the winner only.
If the final game counts for the winner, that would mean they would automatically win any tiebreaker at the end of the season. On the other hand, the loss not counting for the loser will mean that they don’t get punished for being the runner-up.
I don’t understand the argument “The in-season tournament has no stakes”.
What are the stakes of the NBA championship? It is just building your legacy.
Players want to be all-stars and make all-nba teams, yet those really don’t have “stakes”.
By that alone, it will be competitive in its own right.