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WTF Is the NBA Cup and Should Anyone Actually Care?

December 17, 2025

WTF Is the NBA Cup and Should Anyone Actually Care?

The NBA Cup finals happened Tuesday night in Las Vegas, and the New York Knicks are your 2025 champions. If your first reaction is "wait, what finals?"—you're not alone.

The league's third annual in-season tournament has been rebranded as the "Emirates NBA Cup" (yes, the airline bought the naming rights), and it's basically the NBA's attempt to steal Europe's homework and claim they came up with it themselves. Thirty teams play group games throughout November, eight advance to knockout rounds in December, and the whole thing culminates with a championship game that doesn't even count toward the regular season standings.

Confused? Fair. But here's the thing: This tournament just delivered exactly what the NBA hoped for—competitive, meaningful December basketball that people actually cared about.

The Quick Rundown: How Does This Even Work?

Let's start with the basics, because the NBA Cup format sounds like it was designed by a committee that couldn't agree on anything.

Group Stage (November):

  • All 30 teams divided into six groups of five (three per conference)
  • Each team plays four games against their group opponents
  • These games COUNT toward regular season records
  • Winners of each group advance, plus two "wild card" teams with the best records1

Knockout Rounds (December):

  • Eight teams (four from each conference) play quarterfinals at home sites
  • Four winners advance to semifinals in Las Vegas
  • Championship game in Vegas
  • All knockout games EXCEPT the finals count toward regular season standings2

Got all that?

This year's semifinals happen Saturday, December 14: Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks knocked off Orlando, while the San Antonio Spurs—led by rookie sensation Stephon Castle from Connecticut—shocked the 24-1 Oklahoma City Thunder.3

The finals were Tuesday, December 16, at 8:30 PM ET on Amazon Prime Video.4

The 2025 Champions: New York Knicks

The Knicks rallied to defeat Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 in Tuesday night's final, with OG Anunoby leading the way with 28 points and 9 rebounds. Jalen Brunson, named NBA Cup MVP, added 25 points as New York claimed the franchise's first piece of hardware since their 1973 NBA championship.

The game featured everything the NBA Cup promised: stars who cared, physical playoff-intensity basketball, and a genuine celebration afterward. Karl-Anthony Towns gutted through a calf injury. Mitchell Robinson dominated the boards with 15 rebounds. The Knicks outrebounded the Spurs 59-42 and controlled the paint.

Each Knicks player with a standard contract earned $514,971 for winning—more than half a million dollars for a December tournament. The money matters, and the celebration was real.

Why Did the NBA Even Create This?

Fair question. The NBA looked at European soccer's mid-season cup competitions and thought, "We should do that, but make it incredibly complicated and American."

Commissioner Adam Silver wanted to inject meaning into the November doldrums—those early season games where half the league is still figuring out rotations and fans are still watching football. The goal: create stakes beyond just regular season wins, increase fan engagement, and generate buzz during a traditionally sleepy part of the schedule.5

The incentives? Money talks.

Round Prize Money Per Player
Semifinals losers $102,994
Finals runner-up $205,988
Champions $514,971

That's over half a million dollars for winning a tournament that technically doesn't matter for playoff seeding. For younger players and those on minimum contracts, that's real money.6

Plus, teams get those garish, specially-designed courts that look like someone spilled highlighters all over the hardwood. Love them or hate them, they're impossible to ignore.7

The Skeptics Had Valid Points

When the NBA Cup launched in 2023, the reaction ranged from "mildly interested" to "this is the dumbest thing ever."

The criticism made sense:

"Nobody will care about a made-up tournament in November." Early season basketball already struggles for relevance. Why would fans suddenly care about group stage games against random opponents?

"The format is needlessly confusing." Point differential tiebreakers? Wild card spots? Home court advantage determined by group stage records? This isn't March Madness—it's a graduate-level statistics course.

"It dilutes what actually matters." The NBA already has 82 regular season games and a lengthy playoff tournament. Do we really need another competition squeezed into the schedule?

"European soccer models don't translate to American sports." In Europe, cup competitions developed organically over a century. The NBA just... invented one and hoped people would care.

These weren't bad arguments. They were, in fact, completely reasonable objections to a league creating a tournament out of thin air and expecting instant legitimacy.

Except... It's Working.

Here's where it gets interesting. The NBA Cup, despite all the skepticism, is posting numbers that make league executives very happy.

Viewership is surging:

  • Group play averaged 1.50 million viewers across all platforms—up 12% from last year
  • More than 40 million people watched NBA Cup games in the U.S., a 90% increase from 2024
  • The final week of group play was the most-watched regular season week since 2018-19 (excluding opening weeks and Christmas)
  • NBC's Thanksgiving week coverage drew 2.7 million viewers, a 122% jump from last year89

Social media is exploding:

  • NBA Cup games averaged 2.2 billion views across NBA-owned platforms—up 41% from last year
  • Cup games drew 17% more views than non-Cup games
  • 24% more social media views on Cup nights versus regular nights10

Players are actually trying:

  • 20% of Cup games decided by three points or fewer (vs. 15.7% of non-Cup games)
  • Chippy, physical play in knockout rounds—this isn't preseason intensity
  • Teams are playing starters heavy minutes in critical games11

Attendance remains strong:

  • The NBA's best three November attendance averages ever have all occurred since the Cup started: 18,207 (2023), 18,012 (2024), 18,086 (2025)
  • Ten teams have sold out every home game this season, including tournament darlings like Oklahoma City and San Antonio12

The data doesn't lie: people are watching, engagement is up, and the tournament is achieving its primary goal of making November basketball matter.

What's Making It Work?

So why is this succeeding when it seemed destined to flop?

1. The Money Motivates

Half a million dollars per player isn't life-changing for superstars, but for role players, two-way contract guys, and rookies? That's significant.

Stephon Castle, the UConn product and reigning NCAA champion, dropped a career-high 30 points in the Spurs' quarterfinal win over the Lakers. The 20-year-old rookie is playing for a championship—and a massive payday—not too long after cutting down nets in Phoenix.13

When players care, fans care.

2. The Format Actually Works

Despite the initial confusion, the group stage creates genuine drama. Point differential tiebreakers mean teams run up scores late in games. Wild card spots come down to the wire. Suddenly, that Tuesday night game in November against a mediocre opponent matters because it affects tiebreakers.

It's manufactured stakes, sure. But stakes nonetheless.

3. Home Court + Vegas Creates Dual Energy

Playing quarterfinals at home sites preserves the regular season feel while giving an advantage to better teams. Then sending the final four to Vegas for a neutral-site weekend creates a mini-March Madness vibe.

The league announced that starting next year, semifinals will also be played at home sites, with only the finals in Vegas. This addresses the challenge of getting fans to Sin City on short notice while preserving the championship game's neutral location.14

4. The Courts Are Ridiculous and Perfect

Those highlighter-colored courts with the trophy at center circle? They're absurd. They're also instantly recognizable. When you flip past a game on TV, you immediately know it's a Cup game. That brand identity matters.

5. Knockout Round Theater

This year's quarterfinals delivered instant classics:

  • Thunder 138, Suns 89: The largest margin of victory of the season, with OKC dominating
  • Spurs 132, Lakers 119: Castle's breakout game eliminating LeBron and Anthony Davis
  • Knicks 132, Magic 120: Brunson's 40-point masterpiece
  • Spurs 111, Thunder 109: Saturday's semifinal instant classic15

When the games are good, format complaints disappear.

The College Connection: Building On March Madness DNA

Part of what makes the NBA Cup work is that it taps into something Americans already understand: tournament basketball.

Jalen Brunson won two national championships at Villanova. Stephon Castle won one at Connecticut just eight months ago. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played at Kentucky, where tournament basketball is a religion.

These players grew up watching March Madness. They understand single-elimination pressure. The NBA Cup knockout rounds tap into that same energy—high stakes, win-or-go-home basketball in December.

Paolo Banchero (Duke), Victor Wembanyama (France's development system), Devin Booker (Kentucky)—all these stars understand the tournament format. The NBA Cup isn't asking them to learn something new; it's applying something familiar to a different context.

What Still Needs Work

The NBA Cup isn't perfect. Far from it.

The naming rights thing is weird. "Emirates NBA Cup" sounds like an off-brand energy drink. Nobody outside of press releases calls it that—everyone still says "NBA Cup" or "the in-season tournament."

The schedule could be smoother. Group games on random Tuesdays and Fridays throughout November lack rhythm. The league is tweaking this annually.

The championship game not counting is odd—and now proven odd. The Knicks and Spurs both entered at 18-7, played a championship game with real stakes and genuine intensity, and both left at... 18-7. It's the only Cup game that doesn't affect regular season standings, which created exactly the strange situation critics predicted. The Knicks hung a banner, cashed big checks, and got zero help in the standings race.

Playoff implications remain unclear. How much will April playoff seeding be affected by teams load-managing through December Cup runs? Time will tell.

The trophy itself looks like something from a dystopian sci-fi movie. Artist Victor Solomon designed it, and while it's distinctive, "beautiful" isn't the word most people use.16

So... Should You Care?

Here's the honest answer: Yes, because Tuesday night proved it works.

The NBA Cup delivered competitive, meaningful basketball featuring stars who genuinely cared about winning. Jalen Brunson, a two-time national champion at Villanova, treated this like it mattered—because it did. OG Anunoby dominated both ends. Victor Wembanyama left the postgame press conference early after learning of a personal loss, a reminder that even in "manufactured" tournaments, the emotions are real.

The Knicks celebrated like champions. Their players split over $12 million. Madison Square Garden will hang an NBA Cup banner. And casual fans got to watch meaningful basketball in mid-December that wasn't just another regular season Tuesday.

The Verdict

The NBA Cup is weird, confusing, and kind of gimmicky. It's also engaging, competitive, and—as Tuesday night proved—genuinely entertaining.

The Knicks' victory won't define their season. That'll be determined in April and June. But they earned $514,971 per player, they hung a banner, and they gave fans meaningful December basketball featuring stars who actually cared about the outcome.

Three years ago, that seemed impossible. Tuesday night, it was reality. The New York Knicks are NBA Cup champions, and somehow, that actually means something.

Sources

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