NBA Cup Explained by Richard Jefferson

A quick explainer video for what to expect from the 2024 NBA Cup from Richard Jefferson.
• What is the Emirates NBA Cup?

The Emirates NBA Cup (formerly the NBA In-Season Tournament) is the league’s annual in-season competition, which provides players and teams to chase another championship, engages fans in a new way and drives additional interest in the early portion of the regular-season schedule.

• When is the Emirates NBA Cup 2024?

The second in-season competition will tip off on Tuesday, Nov. 12 and culminate with the Championship on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

• Where will the Emirates NBA Cup 2024 be played?

All competition games will be played in NBA team markets except the Semifinals and Championship, both of which will be held at a neutral site (T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas).

• Which teams will participate in the Emirates NBA Cup?

All 30 teams will participate in the first stage of the competition, Group Play. Eight teams will advance to the second and final stage, the single-elimination Knockout Rounds.

• What does the champion of the Emirates NBA Cup receive?

The champion will receive a trophy, the NBA Cup. In addition, a prize pool will be allocated to players on teams that qualify for the Knockout Rounds, with allocations increasing depending on how far a team progresses in the competition.

• Will top performers from the Emirates NBA Cup be honored?

After the Championship is played, a media panel will select the Most Valuable Player of the Emirates NBA Cup and the All-Tournament Team. Selection will be based on the players’ performance in both Group Play and the Knockout Rounds.

• What is Group Play?

All 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on won-loss records from the 2023-24 regular season. Each team will play four designated Group Play games – one game against each opponent in its group, with two games at home and two on the road.

Group Play games will be played on “Cup Nights,” which will take place every Tuesday and Friday from Nov. 12 through Dec. 3. The only NBA games played on Cup Nights will be Group Play games.

• How were the groups determined?

Before the Group Play draw, each team was placed into a “pot” based on its record from the prior regular season (2023-24). In each conference, one team from each pot was randomly selected into each of the three groups in that conference.

Pot 1 had the teams with the three best prior-season records in a conference, Pot 2 had the teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records in a conference, and so on through Pot 5.

Western Conference

West Group A
Minnesota Timberwolves
LA Clippers
Sacramento Kings
Houston Rockets
Portland Trail Blazers

West Group B
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
Los Angeles Lakers
Utah Jazz
San Antonio Spurs

West Group C
Denver Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks
New Orleans Pelicans
Golden State Warriors
Memphis Grizzlies

Eastern Conference

East Group A
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets

East Group B
Milwaukee Bucks
Indiana Pacers
Miami Heat
Toronto Raptors
Detroit Pistons

East Group C
Boston Celtics
Cleveland Cavaliers
Chicago Bulls
Atlanta Hawks
Washington Wizards

• Which teams advance to the Knockout Rounds?

Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds: the team with the best standing in Group Play games in each of the six groups and one “wild card” team from each conference. The wild card will be the team from each conference with the best record in Group Play games that finished second in its group.

• What are the Knockout Rounds?

The Knockout Rounds will consist of single-elimination games in the Quarterfinals (Dec. 10-11), Semifinals (Dec. 14) and Championship (Dec. 17).

• How does the Emirates NBA Cup affect the regular season?

Every team will still play an 82-game regular season. All Emirates NBA Cup games will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship, which will sit outside the regular season.

• Why are there two games labeled as “TBD” on each team’s 2024-25 regular-season schedule?

Every team will play two regular-season games (including the Emirates NBA Cup Quarterfinals and Semifinals for qualifying teams) from Dec. 10-16. The 22 teams that do not qualify for the Knockout Rounds will play two regular-season games on off nights during the Knockout Rounds (Dec. 12 or 13 and Dec. 15 or 16). The four teams that lose in the Quarterfinals will play a regular-season game on Dec. 12, 13, 15 or 16.

• What is the schedule for Group Play?

The game and broadcast schedules for Group Play will be announced in August.

• How can I watch the Emirates NBA Cup?

Fourteen games in Group Play (two games on each Cup Night) and all seven games in the Knockout Rounds will be televised nationally. The game and broadcast schedules for the Emirates NBA Cup Group Play stage will be announced in August.