NBA Cup

Building on the success of last year’s NBA In-Season Tournament, the league will hold the inaugural edition of the NBA Cup during the 2024/2025 campaign. But what is the NBA Cup?

What is the NBA Cup?

Multi-stage tournaments have become hugely popular in global soccer. Now, it’s the NBA’s turn – with odds available on all the action at the best NBA betting sites.

The NBA Cup is the league’s annual in-season tourney and offers fans a chance to cheer on their favorite teams and players as they pursue a championship early in the season.

The NBA Cup is the logical next step in the evolution of the NBA In-Season Tournament, which was launched in 2023/24 and won by LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

All 30 NBA teams automatically qualify for the NBA Cup, with seeding and groups determined by each team’s record last season.

The tournament begins in mid-November with Group Play action and lasts five weeks, with the NBA Cup Final to take place in Las Vegas on December 17.

How Does the NBA Cup Work?

The NBA Cup is played during the NBA regular season, with all tournament games counting towards a team’s regular season record, except for the NBA Cup Final.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClFs9WuxjaE&ab_channel=NBA

All 30 NBA teams automatically qualify for the NBA Cup tournament, which is played in two stages: a Group Play and Knockout Rounds.

The Draw

Teams are drawn into six groups, three from each conference, with seeding for the draw determined by each team’s record from the previous NBA season.

Group Play

The tournament begins with Group Play, which is played in a round-robin format, with each team playing every other team in their group once for a total of four games.

First-place teams in each of the six groups, plus the second-place team with the best Group Play record in each conference also qualify to make up the field of eight teams that advance to the Knockout Rounds.

Knockout Rounds

The format shifts to single-game elimination for the Knockout Rounds, with the eight remaining teams playing off until one team is left standing and are named NBA Cup champions.

NBA Cup Schedule

Group Play (November 12 – December 3): All 30 NBA teams are drawn into six groups of five teams each, with the East Conference and Western Conference each represented by three groups.

The Group Play follows a round-robin format, with each team playing every other team in the group once, for a total of four games. All NBA Cup Group Play games are played on Tuesday and Friday nights and count toward regular season records.

Knockout Rounds (December 10 – December 14): Eight teams make up the field for the Knockout Rounds; the first-place team from each group, along with the second-place teams with the best record in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.

The Knockout Rounds follow a single-game elimination format. Quarter-final games are played at the home arena of the team with the better Group Play record, while both semi-final games are played at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Final (December 17): The top two teams battle for the NBA Cup championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

NBA Cup Bracket

At the conclusion of Group Play, the eight teams advancing to the Knockout Rounds are divided into two brackets of four, one each from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.

The seeding of teams in each bracket is determined by each team’s record in Group Play.

In the quarter-finals, the top seed in each bracket hosts the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed plays the No. 3 seed, with the winners of those games facing off against each other in the semi-finals.

The winners of each bracket then play for the NBA Cup championship at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Tuesday, December 17.

NBA Cup Groups

Here is a breakdown of each of the NBA Cup groups for the 2024/25 NBA Cup, with each team’s conference seeding in brackets.

Eastern Conference

Group A

New York Knicks (2)
Orlando Magic (5)
Philadelphia 76ers (7)
Brooklyn Nets (11)
Charlotte Hornets (13)

Group B

Milwaukee Bucks (3)
Indiana Pacers (6)
Miami Heat (8)
Toronto Raptors (12)
Detroit Pistons (15)

Group C

Boston Celtics (1)
Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
Chicago Bulls (9)
Atlanta Hawks (10)
Washington Wizards (14)

Western Conference

Group A

Minnesota Timberwolves (3)
Los Angeles Clippers (4)
Sacramento Kings (9)
Houston Rockets (11)
Portland Trail Blazers (15)

Group B

Oklahoma City Thunder (1)
Phoenix Suns (6)
Los Angeles Lakers (8)
Utah Jazz (12)
San Antonio Spurs (14)

Group C

Denver Nuggets (2)
Dallas Mavericks (5)
New Orleans Pelicans (7)
Golden State Warriors (10)
Memphis Grizzlies (13)

NBA Cup Prize Money

While the results of the NBA Cup have no impact on the NBA Playoffs, the tourney still gives players plenty of play for in the form of big cash prizes.

This is up for grabs if their team reaches the Knockout Rounds. This is how the prize pool breaks down for the 2024/25 NBA Cup.

Players on NBA teams eliminated in the quarterfinals: $50,000 each
Stars on NBA teams eliminated in the semifinals: $100,000 each
Players on the NBA Cup runner-up team: $200,000 each
NBA Cup championship players: $500,000 each

While it’s unlikely to make a big difference to some of the highest paid NBA players, it still adds extra motivation.

NBA Cup: Key Points

The NBA Cup is another example of the NBA’s innovative approach to keeping basketball fans happy and engaged, with an early-season tournament that gives fans of even the weakest NBA teams a chance to hope for a championship.

Using a multi-stage tournament format that has been tried and tested by professional soccer leagues around the world, the NBA Cup offers all 30 NBA teams not only a chance to raise a trophy early in the season but to also pad their regular-season records in the process.

Based on the success of the NBA In-season Tournament in 2023, the NBA Cup is well positioned to become one of the premier events on every fan’s annual basketball schedule.