Why NBA Cup means more than ever entering Year 4

The fourth year of the NBA Cup kicks off Oct. 30, and all group-play games count toward the regular-season standings except the championship game. 

This is the first year that the NBA Cup championship game won't be played in Las Vegas. Instead, it'll take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., on Dec. 11. 

60 games to separate the contenders from the pretenders

The tournament runs on Fridays from Oct. 30 through Nov. 27 (60 total games in this span). All 30 NBA teams are split into six groups of five (East Groups A–C and West Groups A–C).

"All 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2025-26 regular season. Beginning Friday, Oct. 30 and continuing through Friday, Nov. 27, each team will play four designated Group Play games on “Cup Nights” – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road," according to an official press release on NBA.com.

Success in the Cup, success in the season

Sam Hauser of the Boston Celtics said regarding the NBA Cup, "You saw last year, the Knicks and Spurs played in the NBA Cup championship and those teams met in the Finals. Obviously, it means something," via Celtics on CLNS. 

Hauser's quote suggests that NBA players are beginning to view the NBA Cup as more than just an early season novelty. By pointing out that the Knicks and Spurs reached both the NBA Cup championship game and later the NBA Finals, he's drawing a connection between success in the tournament and success over the course of an entire season.

Teams that excel in the NBA Cup often bring playoff-level intensity in November and December. Hauser is implying that the teams competing for the Cup are typically strong teams overall.

Early criticism of the tournament centered on whether players would care. Hauser's remarks indicate that many may now see it as a meaningful test against quality opponents.

Players may not value it like an NBA championship, but they're no longer dismissing it, either. When veterans cite Cup results as evidence of a team's legitimacy, it signals that the tournament has earned respect inside locker rooms. The NBA Cup has become more about a team's ability to win meaningful games against elite competition.

A shared incentive

"We don't speak on the value of it [to the two-way players] as much as what it really is," former Dallas Mavericks guard D'Angelo Russell told ESPN's Tim Bontemps last year. "A lot of guys that didn't really need it [were motivated] knowing that those guys get an extra piece of the cake."

Russell's quote reveals the NBA Cup's secret ingredient wasn't the prize money itself. It was the camaraderie the money created. 

The tournament gave NBA stars a reason to care beyond their own bank accounts, and in doing so, it transformed skepticism into genuine locker-room investment. By Year 4, that buy-in may be one of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's most valuable victories.