NBA bosses risk the wrath of LeBron and co after giving the go-ahead to KEEP the heavily-criticised post-season 'play-in' tournament The league's board of governors approved the decision to keep the play-in tournament for the 2021-22 season Players including LeBron James and Luka Doncic won't be too pleased about the decision Teams will also be permitted to have up to 15 players on its active list for each game during the regular season By Alastair Talbot For Mailonline Published: 14:37 BST, 28 July 2021 | Updated: 14:37 BST, 28 July 2021 Viewcomments The NBA Board of Governors on Tuesday approved the decision to continue the play-in tournament for the 2021-22 season. The tournament will maintain the same format that it had this year, meaning teams that finish the regular season with the seventh-highest through the tenth-highest winning percentages in each conference will compete to fill the seventh and eighth playoff seeds in each conference. But household names in the league - including Lebron James, Luka Doncic and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban - won't be happy about the news. After the Lakers suffered a 114-121 defeat to the Toronto Raptors on May 3, a frustrated James took a shot at the tournament. James told ESPN's Dave McMenamin that 'whoever came up with that s--- needs to be fired' LA Lakers stars Lebron James won't be too happy about the NBA's decision to keep the NBA play-in tournament for the foreseeable future The Lakers' star's criticism came after Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic questioned the league's new postseason qualification format, which was introduced in 2019. Back in early April when the Dallas Mavericks were the seventh seed of the Western Conference with a 30-26 record, Doncic criticized the league by saying he 'didn't see the point' of the expanded postseason format and that the Mavs could 'lose two in a row and you're out' after playing 72 games to earn a spot in the playoffs. Cuban interfered soon afterwards saying that the new format was an 'enormous mistake' because it 'doubles the stress of the compressed schedule' and he also argued that it would prevent his Dallas Mavericks from resting its players in advance of the postseason. Slovenian and Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic prefers to see teams make the playoffs after the 72-game season is over rather than play more games in the play-in tournament Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the play-in tournament wouldn't allow teams from resting its players in advance of the postseason. However, the play-in tournament does have some fans including Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. Steph Curry, whose played in the play-in tournament this year against the L.A. Lakers with the Golden State Warriors , said he's 'with the idea' although he didn't believe it would stick around for a the newly reduced 72-game regular season. In April, the two-time NBA MVP told ESPN's Rachel Nichols: 'I like the opportunity that's in front of us,' 'We have an opportunity to make this season mean something down the stretch because of the play-in. The opportunity of peaking at the right time.' 'I'm sure there are gonna be a lot of opinions on it, and we'll see how it plays out. But I'm with it.' Regarded as the best shooter in NBA history, Steph Curry is a fan of the play-in tournament saying it gives teams 'the opportunity to gel at the right time' If it hadn't been for COVID 19, then maybe the idea of the a play-in tournament wouldn't exist today as it allowed lower seed teams to make the playoffs in a disrupted season in 2019 The concept of a play-in tournament has been bouncing around the league office since at least 2009, and the Board of Governors unanimously approved it after the regular 2019 season had been cut short due to COVID-19. The 2020 NBA Bubble, which took place at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, didn't allow for completion of a full 82-game schedule, therefore the NBA created the play-in concept to give a team outside the top eight a chance at making the playoffs. Next year's edition will take place April 12-15, 2022, between the last day of the regular season on April 10 and the start of the playoffs on April 16. The board also approved changes to roster-related rules regarding the use of two-way players during the regular season and the maximum number of players that a team may carry on its active list for a game. Training camp will begin Sept. 28 as the league returns to its traditional schedule for the first time since the beginning of the 2019-20 season. The 2021-22 season tips off on October 19. Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility