LAS VEGAS — When Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was asked on Friday about the second edition of the NBA Cup and if he wanted to change anything about the event, he smiled.
“I don’t think there’s anything that needs to change,” said Antetokounmpo, whose Bucks lost in last season’s semifinals in Las Vegas. “My room is nice. The arena here is nice. You guys (the assembled media) make it seem real.
“I heard a few players as we were walking in, and they said, ‘Oh wow, this is real.’ That’s how I felt last year.
Last season’s NBA Cup champions, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakersdid not return to Las Vegas. The reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics also failed to advance beyond group play. But with the tournament culminating Tuesday night with a matchup between MVP favorites Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderPlenty of star power will be on display as the second NBA Cup champion is determined.
“We are very pleased with the second year of this format and the first year of the Emirates NBA Cup,” Evan Wasch, the league’s executive vice president of strategy and analytics, told ESPN. “It’s great to see the players buy in and really compete for something at the start of the season.”
That’s not to say the league’s season tournament is a finished product.
Before Tuesday’s final between the Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC), we spoke with influential figures from around the league in Las Vegas – as well as coaches and team executives from the tournament’s and league’s final four – about what worked, what didn’t worked and what’s next for the NBA Cup.
The adjusted schedule worked
The biggest change the league made after last year’s inaugural NBA Cup was the adjustment to the Round of 16 schedule. Last season, the entire process took place in six days:
-
Home quarter-finals Monday and Tuesday
-
Semi-finals in Las Vegas on Thursday
-
Championship game in Las Vegas on Saturday
As a result, last year the Bucks arrived in Las Vegas early Wednesday morning, then played the game early Thursday afternoon about 30 hours later. That also meant the NBA played the NFL on Monday and Thursday.
This year, the NBA made several changes to the schedule, bringing it to eight days in total:
-
Quarter-finals at home Tuesday and Wednesday
-
Semi-finals in Las Vegas on Saturday
-
Championship game in Las Vegas on Tuesday
The change was welcomed by everyone involved, as it allowed teams to catch their breath, fully prepare for playoff games and avoid the difficult turnaround Milwaukee faced last year. It also produced two spirited and competitive matches in Saturday’s semifinals and plenty of dramatic moments in the quarters.
1:27
Rockets win as controversial ending leaves Warriors stunned
A controversial call sets up Jalen Green free throws to give the Rockets a lead, then Houston stops the Warriors on the final possession to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals.
But fitting the tournament into the existing schedule will continue to present many challenges. Over a 10-day period, the NBA will have one day without a game, two other days with only one game and three more with only two games. It was all necessary to allow the NBA Cup to be highlighted, but does a disservice to the league by cutting back-to-back games into the schedule. “It makes the schedule really shaky for this week,” a Western Conference official said.
However, the four quarterfinals and two semifinals produced exciting and close games, drawing attention to the early part of the league schedule that is normally geared toward the NFL and college football.
“We achieved the desired result,” the executive said. “There is more to these games than any old game.
“You heard (Steve) Kerr’s comments after (Golden State’s quarterfinal loss). They were angry. They wanted to be there.
Neutral-site games remain a work in progress
Tuesday night’s finale will show how moving the finals from Saturday to Tuesday will impact attendance and TV ratings (although not involving the Lakers will likely affect both).
Despite the competitiveness of Saturday’s semifinals, the atmosphere inside T-Mobile Arena was tepid. Attendance for both games was in line with last year’s league attendance: a slight increase from 16,837 to 17,113 for the first game, and a slight drop of 18,017 (sold out) for the second half. final (with the Lakers) at 17,937.
League officials were pleased with these attendance figures, buoyed by a strong Atlanta contingent that came to town to watch the game. Falcons play it Las Vegas Raiders on “Monday Night Football.”
‘You could definitely hear them in the crowd tonight,’ Hawks star Trae Young said after Atlanta’s semifinal loss. “It was good to have them here to support us. I wish I could have won for them.
Yet the games clearly lacked the energy of a home match, a marked contrast to the atmosphere of the Cup quarter-finals. Last year, the NBA benefited from the Lakers — whose league’s largest fan base is just a four-hour drive away — winning the inaugural Cup. This year’s tournament so far has highlighted the challenges of playing games in a neutral environment, regardless of the competition.
What could be the next changes for the NBA Cup?
In conversations this week, several sources raised the possibility of playing the semifinals at home and then playing the championship game in Vegas. This is similar to how the UEFA Champions League in football and other cup-style tournaments are played. And it would definitely create a better atmosphere for games.
The counterargument is that it would take the carrot of a midseason trip to Las Vegas away from two of the four teams currently making the trip. Perhaps more importantly, it would also force teams to leave more arena dates open to host games, a significant hurdle to overcome for many franchises offering multi-purpose arenas.
One change, however, is definitely coming for the NBA Cup: its next television.
After TNT and ESPN split hosting duties for the first two seasons, Amazon will take over for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game. There have been discussions between the NBA and Amazon about possible schedule changes at some point in the future, league sources told ESPN.
1:28
SGA drops 32 points to lead OKC into NBA Cup final
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cooks the Rockets for 32 points to lead the Thunder to the NBA Cup finals.
This involves moving the tournament a little further into the regular season. But those same sources cautioned that such discussions were preliminary and that it was far from likely that changes would be implemented next season.
A later end to the season would allow another adjustment mentioned by several sources this weekend: doubling the length of the group stage from four to eight matches. The argument in favor of this change would be to increase the chances of progression for the best teams.
Last year, no team from the Western top five reached the round of 16. This year, the two best teams in the East — the Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics – duds.
“If you play eight group games,” another West executive said, “the Celtics end up (in the round of 16).”
The NBA showed its willingness to adapt on the fly by making immediate changes to the Round of 16 schedule after last season’s inaugural event. And while the league is happy with how the tournament is progressing within the schedule, it’s clear the NBA Cup will continue to evolve.
“In terms of changes for the years to come, we will always look for ways to improve the experience for our teams, our players, our fans and our partners,” Wasch said. “So while I can’t say anything, it’s still something we’re looking to refine.”