What is the NBA Cup? All you need to know about the NBA mid-season tournament
The 2023-24 NBA season will be the first with a tournament in the middle of it. The league has just announced the details.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has looked into thousands of ways of innovating the best basketball league in the world - his latest plan is with a mid-season, European-style tournament.
The head of the Association announced, through ESPN’s special broadcast from the NBA Con in Las Vegas, details about both the tournament and the trophy, called the NBA Cup.
NBA mid-season tournament: groups
The 30 NBA teams will be divided into six groups of five teams based on their previous regular season record. The franchises were split into five pots in a random draw in which they were placed from 1 to 3, from 4 to 6, from 6 to 9, from 10 to 12 and from 13 to 15.
The Western Conference of the NBA will be divided into three groups: in Group A there will be the Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and the Blazers; in B, the Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavs and the Rockets; finally, in C, there will be the Kings, Warriors, Thunder, Wolves and the Spurs.
The groups for the Eastern Conference are made up of the 76ers, Cavs, Hawks, Pacers and Pistons in Group A; the Bucks, Knciks, Heat, Wizards and the Hornets in Group B; and the Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls and the Magic in Group C.
When will the NBA mid-season tournament games be played?
Games in the NBA Mid-Season Tournament will be played on Tuesdays and Fridays in November with the first day set for 3 November. The only day that there will be no activity will be 7 November which is Election Day in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Each team will play their group rivals once, with two home games and two away games. The leaders of each group, plus the team with the best record after them, will advance to the knockout phase to be played at the home of the four franchises with the best record in the group stage. The single-elimination quarter finals will be played on 4-5 December.
With only four teams remaining, the tournament will move to Las Vegas for a Final Four that will take place on 7 December. The final will be played on 9 December.
How much money will players earn for the tournament in the middle of the season?
The new collective agreement of the NBA establishes that the players of the teams that reach the quarter finals will win $50,000 each and the prizes increase progressively. Semi-finalists will win $100,000. Finally, the mid-season tournament champions will get $500,000 and the second-place basketball players will get $200,000.