The NBA has officially announced its highly anticipated in-season tournament, the NBA Cup.
The announcement was made during the NBA2K24 Summer League, and it marks a significant step forward in the NBA’s long-held vision of bringing a European cup-style competition to the league.
World Cup-style draw aims to break the mold
As part of the grand reveal on Saturday, the NBA unveiled the six five-team groups that will shape the tournament’s group stage.
Each Conference will have three groups each.
The group assignments were determined using a World Cup-style draw process.
Each conference was divided into five pots based on last year’s regular-season standings.
Pot 1 featured the top three teams from each conference, including the Bucks, Celtics, and 76ers in the East.
The remaining pots were allocated based on team rankings, ensuring an even distribution of talent across the groups.
In the group stage teams will compete in four games against other teams withing their group. These games will be played on seven dates in November, featuring a mix of Fridays and Tuesdays.
The top team from each group, along with the highest-finishing team that didn’t win a group in each conference, will advance to the knockout round.
This NBA in-season tournament has been in the works for around 15 years. It’s time for new traditions and fresh innovations in sports, and this is our moment
NBA Cup knockout stage & prize money
The knockout round will begin with quarterfinal games held at the higher-seeded teams’ home arenas on December 4th and 5th.
The winners will then proceed to the semifinals on December 7th at the iconic T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas..
Finally, the NBA Cup Championship will be played on December 9th, setting up an epic East vs. West showdown in a format reminiscent of the NBA playoffs.
The NBA Cup winners will receive a hefty $500,000 prize, while players from the runner-up team will take home $200,000 each.
Those who fall short in the quarterfinals and semifinals will still receive substantial payouts.
