The NBA liked what the inaugural in-season tournament produced in 2023.
Certainly, there were quirks, such as teams running up the score because point-differential was part of the tiebreaker system. But the league and its TV partners enjoyed increased ratings for those games and there was an appropriate amount of buy-in from players to compete for the championship.
“I want to thank all of the players in the league and the coaches, of course, the teams, for embracing this new concept,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said last season. "I know it doesn’t come without challenges. There’s no doubt there’s some things that we are learning this time through. Overall, we are thrilled with the interest we’ve seen so far this season. "
Now rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup, the NBA on Friday conducted the draw for the six five-team groups. In the West, Group C with Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, Golden State and Memphis emerged as the strongest group. Group A with New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Charlotte looks like the toughest in the East.
The Emirates NBA Cup is the league’s in-season tournament, which the league introduced last season. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in last year's NBA Cup championship.
The league’s hope is that it takes off in interest and popularity like soccer’s FA Cup in England and Copa del Rey in Spain with the goal of creating “another competition to win, engage fans in a new way and drive additional interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule,” according to the NBA.
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The event will consist of 67 games, all of which count toward a team’s regular-season record.
Emirates was announced as the title sponsor in February.
Group play games in the Emirates NBA Cup will take place on “Cup Nights” across four Tuesdays (Nov. 12, 19 and 26 and Dec. 3) and three Fridays (Nov. 15, 22 and 29) during the 2024-25 season.
The quarterfinals are Dec. 10-11 in NBA team markets
The semifinals are Dec. 14 and final is Dec. 17 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
It starts as round-robin group play and progresses to single elimination for the final eight teams: quarterfinals, semifinals and final.
Each conference will be split into three five-team groups. The groups were determined by teams’ regular-season win-loss records in 2023-24 in a random draw. Each team will play four games against the other teams in its group − two at home and two on the road.
The winner of each group plus a wild card (team with the best record that finished second in its group) advance to the quarterfinals.
All games except for the semifinals and final will be played in NBA markets.
Beyond winning the NBA Cup, players on teams that reach the quarterfinals and beyond will receive additional financial compensation. Last year, it was $500,000 for each player on the championship team; $200,000 for players on the runner-up team; $100,000 for players on losing semifinals teams and $50,000 for each player on a team that lost in the quarterfinals.
A tournament MVP and all-tournament honors are awarded.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
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