NBA
Emirates NBA Cup 2024 format explained: Is it different from last year’s In-Season Tournament?
The National Basketball Association unveiled the six groups for the second edition of its in-season tournament, now with a major sponsor in its name.
The NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver have drawn inspiration from European soccer leagues, which feature in-season cup competitions. Their aim was to introduce a similar concept within the NBA schedule. In European soccer, leagues have a regular-season title determined by points over the full year, alongside a separate tournament that runs concurrently with the league season. The NBA sees the potential for commercial success in adopting this model.
An example from England includes various divisions led by the Premier League, the FA Cup competition, and financially lucrative European Football Federation (UEFA) cups, such as the Champions League and the Europa League. Unlike European leagues, the NBA Cup is integrated into the regular-season slate.
The format remains the same as last year’s inaugural edition, with 30 NBA teams split into six groups—three Eastern and three Western. Each team plays one game against the other four teams in its group. The winner of each group, along with the team boasting the best record among the non-group winners, will progress to the knockout rounds.
The NBA Cup is incorporated into the NBA regular season
The NBA usually releases a complete 82-game schedule in mid-August. However, this year, the league has only released an 80-game schedule, leaving a gap of about a week to accommodate the group stage of the NBA Cup. This new approach is designed to incorporate a competitive tournament element into the regular season rather than adding extra games to the players’ already demanding schedules.
Teams that reach the NBA Cup championship game will play 83 games, one more than usual. They will also have financial incentives, as the players and teams will be rewarded with prize money for the win. Last year, the winning team’s players each received $500,000, while runners-up got $200,000 each. This year, prizes will be slightly higher due to negotiated raises tied to increases in the salary cap and Basketball Related Income (BRI) as part of the recent NBA and National Basketball Players Association collective bargaining agreement. However, the championship game will not count towards the regular season standings or individual statistics. Teams that lose in the semifinals will have completed their full 82-game schedule and won’t require any additional games.
The two teams eliminated in the quarterfinals from both the Eastern and Western Conferences will play their 82nd game against each other on one of four dates: December 12, 13, 15, or 16. The 22 teams that don’t qualify for the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament will have their final two games scheduled on December 12 or 13 and 15 or 16, against other eliminated teams.