The NBA’s in-season tournament has been renamed the NBA Cup, but the high-intensity mid-season basketball will remain the same.
Introduced last season, the inaugural tournament was won by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The games begin Nov. 12 and run through the championship game Dec. 17 in Las Vegas. Players and coaches on the winning team will receive a $500,000 bonus, upping the stakes even more.
What is the NBA Cup?
The NBA Cup is a multi-stage regular-season tournament that features a group stage and knockout rounds.
There are three groups in each conference, with each team playing four group-stage games. Those games count toward the NBA’s regular season standings and the NBA Cup standings.
The groups were randomly drawn based on last year’s standings. They are as follows:
Western Conference Group A: Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers
Western Conference Group B: Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, San Antonio Spurs
Western Conference Group C: Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies
Eastern Conference Group A: New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets
Eastern Conference Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons
Eastern Conference Group C: Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards
NBA Cup rules
On “Cup Nights,” which are held every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 12 through Dec. 3, the NBA will only feature group-play games. These games will count toward both regular season and NBA Cup standings. Every team will play the four opponents in their group, plus one additional team.
The winners of the six groups and one additional wild-card team from each conference advance to the knockout stage of the NBA Cup.
In the event of a tie within a group, the following tiebreakers are used in this order:
- Head-to-head record in group-play stage
- Point differential in group-play stage (overtime scoring does not count)
- Total points scored in group-play stage (overtime scoring does not count)
- Record from 2023–24 season
- Random drawing
NBA Cup dates
Group Play: Nov. 12 to Dec. 3, 2024
Quarterfinals: Dec. 10 to Dec. 11, 2024
Semifinals: Dec. 14, 2024
Championship: Dec. 17, 2024
NBA Cup bracket
We won’t know the official bracket until the tournament’s group stage is finished on Dec. 3. This post will be updated when more information is available.
Prize Money and Incentives for the NBA Cup
All players on the winning NBA Cup team will receive a $500,000 prize. For some of the league’s highest-paid stars a $500,000 bonus works out to essentially be an additional game check.
However, players on two-way contracts are also included in the winnings and they get $250,000. Obviously that provides a massive incentive as a $250,000 prize is nearly half their salary.
Prize money doesn’t just go to players who win the NBA Cup. The prize pool also allocates cash to each team that makes the quarterfinals, with increasing prizes for advancing.
Prize Breakdown:
Champion: $500,000
Runner-Up: $200,000
Semifinals: $100,000
Quarterfinals: $50,000
Last year’s winner, the Lakers, took home a total of $650,000 in prize money ($500,000 for winning the finals, $100,000 for making the semifinals and $50,000 for making the quarterfinals).
At first glance a $500,000 bonus might not seem like much, but compared to other events it is actually quite impressive.
The players who win the Super Bowl this season will receive a (paltry by comparison) $164,000 bonus.
It’s also worth noting that the prizes are flat for the NBA Cup. So it isn’t based on performance. Bonuses for the NBA Finals and World Series are. A “full share” bonus for the Texas Rangers was approximately $440,000.
Last season in the NHL, the Florida Panthers players received roughly $285,000 each for winning the Stanley Cup.
How the NBA Cup affects the regular season
One of the best aspects of the NBA Cup is that it clearly fired up the players, which resulted in playoff-like basketball early in the regular season.
And teams don’t have to worry about playing an excessive amount of games. The two teams that meet in the championship game will end up playing 83 regular season games. All of the other tournament teams will play their regularly scheduled 82 games. All tournament games (other than the championship) count toward the regular season.
Last season’s inaugural tournament was a resounding success. Players were into it, which resulted in high-intensity games—and fans absolutely loving it.
We’ll see what Year 2 brings.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA In-Season Tournament Rules, Dates, Pools and Bracket.