The National Basketball Association is shaking things up with its new in-season tournament, the NBA Cup. This European cup-style competition is adding some serious excitement to the early season schedule. And the best part? The players on the winning team will each receive a whopping $500,000!
Commissioner Adam Silver revealed this long-awaited concept during a special episode of “NBA Today” at the league’s annual gathering in Las Vegas, known as “NBA Con.” He expressed his enthusiasm for this global league and how perfectly this tournament fits into the NBA’s game.
But introducing new traditions takes time, as Silver acknowledged. However, he pointed out that innovation is happening across all sports, and now is the perfect time for this NBA in-season tournament.
The league has unveiled the six groups for the tournament, with three groups consisting of Eastern Conference teams and three groups consisting of Western Conference teams. The teams were carefully grouped based on their standings from the previous regular season. Each group is made up of five teams, creating an intense competition.
The group play portion of the tournament will consist of four games for each team, playing against the other four teams in their group. These games will take place on seven dates throughout November, including a combination of Fridays and Tuesdays.
Evan Wasch, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball strategy, assured teams that the league will do its best to minimize back-to-back games. While it may be impossible to avoid some group play games being the first night of back-to-backs, the league aims to avoid scheduling them as the second night of back-to-backs.
The winner of each group, along with the highest-finishing team that didn’t win a group in each conference, will advance to the knockout round. Quarterfinal games will be held on December 4th and 5th, followed by the semifinals on December 7th at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The championship game will take place on December 9th, where the top four teams will battle it out for ultimate glory.
Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, acknowledged that not everyone will immediately embrace this new tournament. However, he emphasized that the goal is not for everyone to buy in from day one. Change takes time, and the NBA is ready to take this exciting leap forward.
