Hopefully, Kyrie Irving’s right shoulder impingement doesn’t prevent him from playing in Brooklyn’s first League Cup game or whatever the NBA intends to call its new 30-team, in-season tournament tentatively scheduled to begin in the 2021-22 season.

The NBA, which has toyed with this idea for a few years, is considering adopting a similar format used by soccer leagues in Europe, Latin America and in the United States. Of course, the best teams in England, for example, tend to rest their best players in the early rounds of the tournament while placing utmost importance on the regular season.

Radical concept, no?

On this side of the world, NBA players have more power than ever and one of the consequences is that they seem to view the regular season as an 82-game nuisance. That’s how we got to this point. Once upon a time it was a badge of honor to play in all 82 games. In his prime, Michael Jordan won three NBA titles, three Finals MVPs and three...