The NBA Cup is an annual competition that debuted in the 2023/24 season, where all 30 teams compete across group play and knockout rounds to win the tournament.
The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural tournament in 2023, the Milwaukee Bucks won the second edition of the Cup in 2024, and the New York Knicks won it last year.
The Knicks are the only team so far to win the NBA Cup and the NBA Championship in the same year.
In 2025, the NBA Cup will be sponsored by Emirates, under the name of Emirates NBA Cup.
NBA Cup Format
The NBA Cup has a group play stage, followed by a single-elimination knockout stage.
All 30 NBA teams are divided into six groups of five based on conference. Each team will play the other four teams in the group once on designated NBA Cup nights. two games will be played at home and two away.
Fridays will be the designated NBA Cup days for the group stage, beginning on Oct. 30, while special NBA Cup nights will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Eight teams will move on from the group stage to the knockouts, including all six group winners, and two wild card teams. The wildcard teams will be the best team from each conference that finished second in their group.
The knockout rounds will be single-elimination games. There will be three rounds before finally crowning a cup winner.
The semifinal will be hosted at the home arena of the higher seeds, while the NBA Cup final will be held at Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN.
All 67 games of the NBA Cup through the knockout stage will count towards the teams' NBA regular season record.
NBA Cup 2026 start date, schedule
The group stage will begin on Oct. 30 night and continue through the four following Fridays. A winner will be crowned on December 11, 2026.
Group Stage Dates
October 30, 2026
November 6, 2026
November 13, 2026
November 20, 2026
November 27, 2026
Quarterfinals Dates
Friday, December 4, 2026
Saturday, December 5, 2026
Semifinal Dates
Tuesday, December 8, 2026
Wednesday, December 9, 2026
NBA Cup Final
Friday, December 11, 2026
Streaming Options
The group stage games will be broadcast on either Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, or NBC and Peacock.
The knockout rounds will all be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
Western Conference Groups
West Group A | West Group B | West Group C |
Eastern Conference Groups
East Group A | East Group B | East Group C |
NBA Cup trophy
The winner of the tournament will take home the NBA Cup, a trophy specifically designed for this event.
NBA Cup prize money
Players on teams that advance to the knockout round of the NBA Cup will be rewarded handsomely.
Each player on teams that reach the knockout stage will receive $53,093.
Players to be eliminated in the semifinals will receive $106,187.
NBA Cup runners-up will receive $212,373.
Each player on the team that takes home the NBA Cup will receive $530,933.
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