NBA Cup explained: Everything to know from about the in-season tournament in its second year
For years, an in-season NBA tournament felt like one of those far-out ideas that always seemed cool but would probably never be executed.
Fast forward to today and we saw how well it worked in 2023. Even with those eyesores of court designs, the players were into it and fans were too. Now, there's an expensive new sponsor and the experience of Year 1.
If you're here, you might have some questions, though: how exactly does this thing work? The NBA becomes an American basketball version of a soccer league, which is strange but pretty fun.
Let’s take a look at everything we know about it.
Why did the NBA make an in-season tournament in the first place?
This had been in the works for quite some time. Rumors surfaced about it dating back to 2021 when the league began its first season on Christmas day after the NBA Bubble.
It was considered a supplemental idea to the NBA season with teams potentially playing 78 games instead of 82 to make room for the tournament. The season didn’t shorten at all, but the league did add the intrigue of the tournament as well as the new player participation policy to make sure star players were playing in these games.
The NBA first announced it’d come last season and made the official debut of the format over the summer.
How does the NBA Cup work?
It might seem kind of complicated at first, but it’s actually fairly simple.
All 30 teams across the league are split up into groups by conference. In total, there are six groups:
Eastern Conference Groups
Group A: Knicks, Magic, Nets, Hornets, 76ers
Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons
Group C: Celtics, Wizards, Cavaliers, Hawks, Bulls
Western Conference Groups
Group A: Timberwolves, Rockets, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Kings
Group B: Thunder, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs, Suns
Group C: Warriors, Mavericks, Pelicans, Nuggets, Grizzlies
Ok, so they split into groups. Then what?
The team with the best head-to-head record in group play wins the group. The winners of each group, along with two wild card teams, advance to play in the knockout rounds. From there, it’s like the playoffs in the middle of the regular season. The teams play until someone wins the championship.
What do they win in this thing?
The players and coaches that win the tournament get a cool trophy called the NBA Cup which, yes, is extremely generic and probably going to be used for some corny sponsorship moving forward if this goes well.
But everyone on the winning team gets a $500,000 prize each and other teams in the quarters and semifinals gets a bonus.
Do they play the games anywhere special?
I’m so glad you asked! Every game in the tournament up to the quarterfinals will be played in the team’s home markets. But the semifinals and the finals will be played in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: NBA Cup explained: Everything to know from about the in-season tournament in its second year
