I don't recall hearing that but I wouldn't doubt it .... that million to the winners is ~half of some players salaries. Doesn't matter a whole lot to guys who are making max money but to the guys making vet minimum, its surely an incentive.
What a season we are having….we won the NBA draft….Amen and Cam! We almost won the Summer League Championship….we needed Amen! We are going to win the In-Tournament Championship this year….WE ARE A YEAR AWAY! We are close guy….
Max guys do like most of their teammates though so there is incentive to help their teammates out. I'm pretty sure it was Lebron that said he wanted to win it for his teammates.
The vibe I'm getting is that the tournament matters more to the players than most expected. At the end of the day, these athletes are competitive people who want to win. I do think, however, that next season, the in-season tournament should have some playoff implications, i.e. if you win the tournament you are guaranteed a play-off spot, etc.