Bucks' Taurean Prince is king of the NBA Cup with second win

With the Milwaukee Bucks' 97-81 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night, Taurean Prince became the first two-time winner of the NBA Cup. He's also the winningest player in the two-year history of the NBA's in-season tournament, having gone 7-0 last season with the Los Angeles Lakers and 7-0 this year.

Prince did it alongside Darvin Ham, his head coach last season in Los Angeles and an assistant to head coach Doc Rivers this year. For his efforts, Prince has collected a cool million in prize money, while Ham won $500K last season, plus whatever his share is this year.

That's big for Prince, since he signed a minimum contract this summer with Milwaukee, worth roughly just over $2M. The prize money for winning amounts to a 25% bonus on his salary. Ham is still being paid by the Lakers, who fired him with two years left on his contract.

Did he help the Bucks? Prince scored six points in 21 minutes, coming on two three-pointers. He had two rebounds and two assists, but he was +10 as the Bucks starters dominated the start of the third quarter. 

Last season, Prince had a very similar line in the Lakers' 123-109 win over the Pacers, putting up six points and two assists while grabbing three rebounds.

The win is vindication for both Prince and Ham, who became scapegoats for the Lakers' disappointing season last year. Now, they're holding up the NBA Cup trophy again — a trophy they may have to name after Taurean Prince someday.