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Founded | 2023 |
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Number of teams | 30 total; 15 per conference |
Current champions | Los Angeles Lakers (2023) |
Most championships | Los Angeles Lakers (1 title) |
TV partners | |
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The NBA Cup,[1] known as the Emirates NBA Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a National Basketball Association (NBA) tournament which occurs during the regular season. The tournament was officially announced on July 8, 2023, and it debuted during the 2023–24 NBA season. The first edition of the event was called the In-Season Tournament.[2]
The format is a multi-stage tournament beginning with group play followed by single-elimination knockout rounds. Group play consists of three groups of five teams per conference, for a total of six groups. Each team plays four group stage games which count towards both the NBA Cup group standings and the regular season standings. The winners of each group, along with one wild card team from each conference, advance to the knockout rounds. The final two rounds of the knockout stage are played at a neutral site.
The winning team receives the trophy, also called the NBA Cup, and each winning player receives a cash prize, which was $500,000 for the 2023 edition.[3] The first winner of the NBA Cup was the Los Angeles Lakers, with the tournament MVP being LeBron James.[4]