NEW YORK –
Coming soon: The NBA Cup.
The NBA on Saturday released details of the inaugural $18 million midseason tournament, which will end with a non-qualifying championship game on December 9 in Las Vegas.
This is an event Commissioner Adam Silver had sought for years and one that gives teams another trophy to fight for in the middle of the regular season.
Now, it is a reality.
“It’s a concept that’s been buzzing around league offices for 15 years,” Silver admitted. “It is not a new concept in the sport. For those who follow international soccer, it’s a long tradition to have tournaments within the season… so we thought it was the perfect opportunity for a global league like the NBA.”
The tournament will pay players following the standard contract of $500,000 for the winning team, $200,000 for the runner-up and $100,000 for the losing semifinalists and $50,000 in the quarterfinals.
The matches of this tournament will begin on November 3 and will be played on Tuesdays and Fridays in November, except on November 7, which will not have a game due to the elections in the United States.
The Final Four will be held in Las Vegas.
“The city knows how to host big events,” Silver said.
The teams were assigned to groups of five franchises. They will play a live duel with each member of the group and the six winners will advance to the quarterfinals, as well as the two best second places.
West Group A — Memphis, Phoenix, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah and Portland.
West Group B — Denver, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans, Dallas and Houston.
West Group C — Sacramento, Golden State, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
East Group A — Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, Indiana and Detroit.
This Group B — Milwaukee, New York, Miami, Washington and Charlotte.
This Group C — Boston, Brooklyn, Toronto, Chicago and Orlando.
The duels of the tournament, except the championship one, will count in the league table.
It has long been known that the 2023-24 calendar would have 80 games.
But games 81 and 82 will be added in December; this is where things change.
The teams that do not make it past the group stage will play another two games against other teams that were eliminated and those will be the two extra games on the calendar.
For the teams that advance, the quarterfinal duel will count as the 81st. The losers in this instance—two from the East and two from the West—will meet and this will be their 82nd duel.
2023-07-09 02:05:59
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