The second-annual NBA Cup will look to build on the history set by the eventual winners, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Fans of the San Antonio Spurs got some news about when the new event that was known as the in-season tournament (and now as the NBA Cup) that will clarify when the Spurs will be playing in it, and more importantly, which ball clubs they would be doing so against once the event rolls around in the middle of the NBA’s 2024-25 season.
The second-annual NBA Cup will look to build on the history set by the eventual winners, the Los Angeles Lakers, with the Spurs being the sort of team well-positioned to win such an award with some luck.
The group play segment of the NBA Cup will begin on Nov. 12, and the semifinals stage on Dec. 14. The finals will be on Dec. 17.
The teams that the Spurs will play are in the Western Conference Group B, along with the Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz.
OKC Thunder to be part of West’s Group B for 2024-25 NBA Cup.
The NBA announced its six groups for the 2024-25 NBA Cup. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be in the West’s Group B with the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs.
The league will have six groups of five NBA squads divided among the Western and Eastern conferences. Each team will play four games against the rest of their group.
These games will occur on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the November and December portion of the 2024-25 season.
Whoever has the best record among the six groups advances to an eight-team knockout tournament with two at-large bids — one from the West and one from the East.
The quarterfinals will be played from Dec. 10-11. The remainder of the tournament will be held in Las Vegas from Dec. 14-17. The NBA Cup championship will take place on Dec. 17.
Explaining how the 2024-25 NBA Cup tournament works.
The 2024-25 season will feature the NBA Cup for the second straight campaign. The tournament — called the in-season tournament last year — will feature all 30 teams.
Here’s a quick reminder of how the NBA Cup works as the league will announce the six groups of five:
The league will have six groups of five NBA squads divided among the Western and Eastern conferences. It will be a Round-robin style of group play where each team will play four games against the rest of their group.
Since it’s only a four-game sample size in group play, tied records are bound to happen. The tiebreaker for the group standings is point differential.
These games will occur on Tuesdays and Fridays throughout the November-December portion of the 2024-25 season.
Whoever has the best record among the six groups advances to an eight-team knockout tournament with two at-large bids. The at-large bids will be one from the West and one from the East.
The quarterfinals will be played from Dec. 10-11. The remainder of the tournament will be held in Las Vegas from Dec. 14-17. The NBA Cup championship will take place on Dec. 17.
The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament last year against the Indiana Pacers. The Oklahoma City Thunder finished fourth place in West’s Group C with a 1-3 record.
The NBA Cup winner’s roster will receive $500,000 each. The runner-ups are rewarded with $200,000 per player. The semifinal losers receive $100,000 apiece and the quarterfinal losers receive $50,000 apiece,
Also included in that press release was the news that the Emirates logo will appear on all NBA referee jerseys, starting with the NBA’s 2024 All-Star Game. All referees in the WNBA (beginning in 2025) and G League (starting in 2024-25) will also wear Emirates patches.
Emirates is currently a sponsor across various international sports properties, including referee jersey branding for the FA Cup, Cricket World Cup, and the Rugby World Cup.
Although the news was picked up by several outlets, fans may have missed this information if they were focused on the winners and losers of the trade deadline. After the league returned from the brief All-Star break, though, it did not take long for fans to notice the sponsorship:
“The move comes at a time when NBA viewership is up from last year on the major networks and at a time when the league’s referees are being shown on television far more than in the past.
Television cameras generally zoom in on lead officials as they finalize their rulings over an in-arena microphone following coach’s challenges, where referees review replays of debatable calls — a process that often takes minutes at a time. The number of reviews has increased in recent years, as league stakeholders voted in 2023 to allow clubs a third challenge if a coach requests and is successful with his first two tries.”
Now that the NBA patches are public, though, fans shared their thoughts:
The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the New York Knicks to advance to the semifinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who finished the game with 35 points as well as 10 assists and eight rebounds during the win, was asked about the prize money that the advancing players will receive.
Antetokounmpo seemed surprised that there was money involved in any capacity and told TNT’s Jared Greenberg: “The rich get richer.”
Giannis, who just earned $100,000 for making it to the In-Season Tournament semifinals: "Are we getting money now? We got some money? The rich get richer." 😂pic.twitter.com/oNitKKHg14
The two-time MVP is currently signed to a five-year contract worth more than $228.2 million for an average annual value exceeding $45.6 million.
He will earn at least an additional $100,000 by making the semifinals of the NBA Cup but the former NBA Finals MVP could receive up to $500,000 if the Bucks win the In-Season Tournament.
Fun fact: Antetokounmpo, who will turn 30 years old while in Las Vegas, said that he only bets on “34 red” in roulette if he is gambling.
It actually wasn’t the worst advice from Josh Hart to Brook Lopez.
During the quarterfinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Knicks wing Josh Hart had a funny message for Bucks big Brook Lopez.
Hart, who is 6-foot-4, approached the 7-foot-1 center to offer him some strategic advice. Hart said that when Lopez gets the ball near the basket, the Milwaukee big shouldn’t feel “scared” to pass it out to his teammate to avoid the mismatch.
According to Hart, despite the obvious height difference that favors the Milwaukee big by several inches, the mismatch favors the shorter player any time that he is guarding Lopez.
“I know when you got the ball in the post against me it’s a mismatch. Don’t be scared if you gotta pass it out!”
Hart was joking, but let’s look into this one! For what it is worth, using the matchup database via NBA.com, Hart has defended Lopez on 31.5 partial possessions since 2018-19.
The big man is shooting 3-of-7 (42.8 percent) on these opportunities and has scored eight points. Lopez has also recorded three assists and three turnovers on these matchups. Not bad!
While the advice from Hart about a mismatch is tongue-in-cheek, it is also actually not the most awful observation. Lopez is averaging just 0.1 passes per game after post-up possessions this season, via NBA.com.
Last season, his pass percentage on post-ups ranked as the second-lowest (minimum: 40 post-ups) in the league. So perhaps, no matter who is assigned to guard Lopez, he should consider Hart’s suggestion.
This was so far from actually hurting Valanciunas that Lyles was barely punished.
During the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, Kings forward Trey Lyles and Pelicans big man Jonas Valanciunas shared a tense moment.
As the Pelicans hustled back on defense in the second quarter of the game, Lyles and Valanciunas were visibly upset at one another. Lyles then threw what was nearly a punch toward the head of Valanciunas, but the strike did not connect.
The broadcasters described what they saw from Lyles as a “modified swing” toward the big man. Here is a video of what happened:
Later in the game, New Orleans wing Naji Marshall approached Lyles and may have shared his thoughts about the incident.
Overall, the refs seemingly allowed more of a playoff-like atmosphere during the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup to allow that type of physicality without an ejection.
Time to flex some games so we can all watch the Pacers more often.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers defeated the Boston Celtics to advance to the semifinals of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
Haliburton had the first triple-double of his career recording 26 points, 10 rebounds, 13 assists, zero turnovers and one steal. It’s worth noting that the rising star had not played a game on TNT before this victory, per ESPN.
After the dominant performance, the Pacers will move on to the semifinals of the NBA Cup in Las Vegas. The next round of the tournament, which will be a combined broadcasting effort by ESPN and TNT, will give Haliburton and his teammates yet another chance to play on national TV.
Otherwise, the Pacers only have one other game scheduled on national TV this season: Jan. 30 against the Celtics on TNT.
But fans aren’t satisfied with just getting to see the Pacers, who now have the best offensive rating of all-time so far this season, in just those games. Many expressed a genuine interest in seeing the national TV schedule flexed as the season continues so they can watch Indiana more often.
The cup was designed by Tiffany & Co. in collaboration with artist Victor Solomon.
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Some standout performers have already separated themselves as potential MVP candidates during group play of the tournament. As we head into the quarterfinals, teams are one step closer to becoming the inaugural champions of the NBA Cup.
Here are some key details you should know about the actual trophy they will receive, per NBA.com:
The cup was designed by Tiffany & Co. in collaboration with artist Victor Solomon. It was crafted at the Tiffany hollowware workshop in Rhode Island.
The base of the cup has 30 openings in the net to represent all of the teams in the league.
The base has three tiers, which represent how many games each team must win during the knockout rounds to win the tournament.
Eight prongs flow into the channels of the ball, which symbolize the eight teams that made the knockout rounds of the tournament. These are inspired by the prongs of a diamond ring.
The trophy is 23 inches tall, which is a tribute to the inaugural year of the tournament.
The trophy is five inches wide because there were five teams in each group during the seeding games.
The trophy, which weighs 35 pounds, is coated in 24-karat gold vermeil and black ceramic. The weight represents the three groups of five teams in each conference during group play.
This is a beautiful trophy and the attention to detail is fascinating.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum is currently considered the favorite to take home the trophy. Based on play during the seeding games during group play, however, the best players to advance to the knockout rounds included Phoenix’s Devin Booker and Kevin Durant as well as Sacramento’s De’Aaron Fox.
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton is an interesting choice as well if he is healthy. So, too, are Lakers teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Shootaround
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