Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic is the latest NBA All-Star to criticize the league's new playoff format.
Prior to Monday's defeat at the hands of the first-place Philadelphia 76ers, Doncic sounded off about the newly implemented system, which pits the 7th-10th seeds against each other in short play-in series before the winners advance.
"I don't understand the idea of the play-in," Doncic told reporters. "You play 72 games to get in the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row, and you're out of the playoffs. I don't see the point of that."
The Mavericks are presently in seventh place in the Western Conference, and therefore would be relegated to the play-in series if the season were to end today.
The NBA's adoption of an additional, shorter playoff round loosely mirrors the other leagues, with the idea being to keep more teams in contention for longer, so as to keep their fanbases engaged.
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Doncic, 22, joins longtime Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green in publicly criticizing the new play-in round.
Earlier this month, Green turned heads when he declared that "fighting for a play-in spot doesn't motivate me at all.
"The play-in situation isn't going to get me out of my bed, like 'I got to bust my ass today because we're fighting for the play-in spot,'" said the 31-year-old three-time All-Star. "That ain't going to push me."
Golden State was 1.0 game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for 10th place in the Western Conference following Monday night's action.