The NBA in-season tournament, introduced in the 2023–24 season, is a mid-season competition involving all 30 NBA teams. The tournament is designed to add excitement and significance to the regular season, with teams competing for the new NBA Cup.
The NBA in-season tournament is a shortened competition with the majority of matches counting towards the NBA regular season. It drew inspiration from soccer cup competitions.
Group stage matches are incorporated into the regular season schedule, followed by knockout rounds. The tournament culminates in a final held in Las Vegas, with additional financial incentives and accolades for the winning team and individual players. This year, the final will be on December 17.
The NBA in-season tournament seeks to emulate the success of mid-season competitions in other sports. It aims to create more competitive games during the season’s earlier stages, a time when intensity can sometimes lag.
Who Won the 2023-24 NBA In-Season Tournament?
Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers (32.74) won the NBA Cup, beating the Indiana Pacers 123-109 in the final on December 9, 2023.
LeBron James was the MVP, with the All-Star team consisting of James, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant.
The Lakers had topped the Western Conference group stage standings ahead of the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns. They then went on to beat the Suns in the quarter-finals and the Pelicans in the semi-finals before their win over the Pacers.
It offered a noteworthy consolation prize to the Lakers in a season which ultimately saw their fierce rivals, the Boston Celtics (5.91), jump ahead of them at the top of the NBA all-time championship wins list after they clinched a long-awaited title.
What Is the Format of the NBA In-Season Tournament?
The tournament begins with a group stage, where teams are divided based on their performance in the previous season.
Each team plays a few selected regular-season games that double as tournament matchups. The best-performing teams from each group, alongside a few wild cards, progress to the knockout stages, adding a do-or-die element to mid-season NBA action, which traditionally lacks the high-stakes intensity of the playoffs.
The knockout rounds begin with quarter-finals, where the remaining teams face single-elimination games, ultimately leading to the semi-finals and the final. One unique feature of the tournament is that the final four teams travel to Las Vegas, which provides a neutral and celebratory setting for the climactic stages. The idea behind this tournament is not only to boost fan engagement early in the season but also to offer players another avenue for competition and legacy-building, outside the championship title. Teams are motivated by a lucrative prize pool, while individual players compete for the honour of being named the in-season tournament MVP.
The competition offers something fresh, particularly for younger teams or rising stars, who may not yet be in championship contention but still crave opportunities to make a mark in a competitive setting.
