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NBA Cup

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NBA In-Season Tournament
Tournament information
SportBasketball
Established2023
FormatMulti-stage tournament
Teams30 total; 15 per conference
Broadcast
Most recent tournament
2023 NBA In-Season Tournament

The NBA In-Season Tournament (sometimes known as the NBA Cup) is a regular season tournament being contested for the first time during the National Basketball Association's 2023–24 NBA season. The tournament was officially announced on July 8, 2023, on ESPN's NBA Today.

The format is a multi-stage tournament beginning with Group Play followed by single-elimination Knockout Rounds. Group Play consists of 3 groups of five teams per conference (a total of 6 groups). Each team plays four designated regular season games (two at home and two on the road) which count towards the group stage standings. The winners in each group along with one wild card from each conference then advance to the Knockout Rounds. The final two rounds of the knockout stage are played at a neutral site. The winning team receives the NBA Cup, and each winning player receives $500,000.[1]

History

NBA officials had discussed the possibility of holding an in-season tournament for at least 15 years.[2] For decades, the NBA has been concerned about trying to compete with the National Football League for viewers and attention when both leagues’ regular seasons coincide every November and December.[3]

On July 6, 2023, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski reported the NBA would hold its first in-season tournament from November 3 to December 9.[4] The details of the 2023 tournament were revealed by the NBA on July 8 which included the group draws and that the semifinals and championship would take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.[5][6]

Format

The tournament has a similar format to in-season, multi-stage tournaments such as WNBA Commissioner's Cup and those held in soccer. The tournament rules are as follows:[7][8]

  • Each conference is divided into three groups with five teams each, for a total of six groups. The top three teams (by previous-season record) are randomly assigned to the three conference groups, then the next three are randomly assigned, and so on.
  • Round Robin tournament in each group: Tuesdays and Fridays during November will feature each team playing one game against each of the other teams in its group, for a total of four games (two at home and two on the road). These games also count as regular season games.
  • Four teams from each conference advance to a single-elimination tournament: the three pool winners in addition to the group runner-up with the best record as a wild card.
  • The Quarterfinal games will be hosted by the two teams with the best record in Group Play games for each conference, and the team with the best record in Group Play games will host the wild card team. If two or more teams are tied for the higher seed in a conference, the tie will be broken following the tiebreaker protocol described below.
  • The semifinals and championship game will be played in Las Vegas.
  • For the 2023 tournament, players on the champion team will each receive $500,000; runners-up will get $200,000. The players on the two losing teams in the semifinals will each get $100,000, and the players on the four losing teams in the quarterfinals will each get $50,000.[9]

In the event two or more teams are tied within a group at the end of the Group Play, the tie will be broken according to the following tiebreakers (in sequential order):

  • Head-to-head record in the Group Stage
  • Point differential in the Group Stage
  • Total points scored in the Group Stage
  • Regular season record from the 2022-23 NBA regular season
  • Random drawing (if two or more teams are still tied following the previous tiebreakers)

If two or more teams are tied for the wild card in a conference, after group tiebreakers are resolved, the wild-card tie will be broken following the same tiebreakers described above (with the exception of the head-to-head record in the Group Stage).[10]

Uniforms and courts

Los Angeles Lakers In-Season Tournament Court

To distinguish the In-Season Tournament from other regular season games, home teams wear their "City" edition uniforms and games are played in specially designed basketball courts. These courts, unlike the normal ones used in the regular season, feature a fully-painted maple surface with a contrasting middle color strip painted from each end of the free-throw lane. The NBA Cup is displayed at center court, and silhouettes of the trophy are also painted on the free-throw lanes.[11] The court designs are based on the home team's "City" uniform for that particular season.[12]

Impact on the regular season

With the exception of the championship game, all games in the tournament will also be counted as regular season games.

To adjust for the differing number of games played by different teams, the NBA's regular season scheduling formula will be modified so only 80 games for each team are initially announced prior to the beginning of the season, with the 81st and 82nd scheduled games occurring differently:[9]

  • The 22 teams that do not qualify for the knockout rounds of the tournament will play two additional games, one at home and one on the road, against other teams eliminated prior to the knockout rounds. These games will occur during the Knockout Rounds on days when In-Season Tournament games are not scheduled.
  • The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play one additional game against the opponent from the same conference on the day before the tournament Championship Game.

References

  1. ^ "NBA goes bold with flashy announcement of In-Season Tournament". NBA.com. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  2. ^ Reynolds, Tim (July 8, 2023). "NBA reveals long-awaited plans for in-season tournament that'll start in November". Associated Press. Retrieved November 8, 2023. 'This is a concept that has been rumbling around the league office for about 15 years,' [NBA Commissioner Adam] Silver said.
  3. ^ Deveney, Sean (July 9, 2023). "NBA In-Season Tournament: Doubt Adam Silver At Your Own Peril". Forbes. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  4. ^ Rajan, Ronce (July 7, 2023). "NBA Today Special Episode to Announce 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament on ESPN". ESPN PR. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  5. ^ "NBA In-Season Tournament to debut in 2023-24 season". NBA.com. July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  6. ^ Bontemps, Tim (July 8, 2023). "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  7. ^ Quinn, Sam (April 9, 2023). "NBA in-season tournament: How the league reportedly plans to structure its new spectacle". CBS Sports. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  8. ^ Rohrbach, Ben (April 7, 2023). "NBA Fact or Fiction: Is the in-season tournament a good idea?". Yahoo!. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Bontemps, Tim (August 15, 2023). "What is the NBA in-season tournament? Format, schedule, groups". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "In-Season Tournament 101: Rules, format and how it works". NBA.com. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  11. ^ "NBA debuts In-Season Tournament courts for all 30 teams". NBA.com. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  12. ^ "2023-24 Nike NBA City Edition uniforms unveiled". NBA.com. Retrieved November 2, 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NBA_Cup&oldid=1186640625"