NBA Finals vs. the NBA Cup: Comparing 2 of the NBA's biggest events
Today at 08:44 PM
The NBA just wrapped up its second annual event, the NBA Cup, in Las Vegas, Nevada with Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks defeating Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. But what has the NBA’s in-season tournament experience in December been like compared to the NBA Finals in June?
ClutchPoints has had a reporter on the ground for each of the last two events, so here’s a look at how the two events compare.
1. NBA Cup Media Day vs. NBA Finals Media Day
The NBA has placed an incredible emphasis on giving events their own media days. This allows a flurry of media from around the world to travel to the NBA’s destination. Las Vegas is one of the popular cities in the United States, so it’s a much easier location to get to.
Over the first two seasons, the initial media day for the NBA Cup semifinals have seen smaller media crowds than the day of the semifinal gameday themselves, the NBA Cup Championship media day, or NBA Cup Championship gameday.
NBA Finals Media Day, on the other hand, is a massive event that most media members try to attend. Both teams are given a press conference window, with two players and the head coach going to a press conference room while other players are available in a ‘mixed zone’ around the court.
The first media day for the NBA Finals is usually a lighthearted one where, although the focus is on the championship round, most guys are in a good mood and excited for the opportunity to be on the biggest stage.
The NBA Finals are formatted a way where there are two days off between every game except for Games 3 and 4 in the second city. That allows for both an actual off day for rest and/or travel as well as a media day leading into the following game.
With Games 3 and Game 4 in the second city, there’s only one day off between the two contests. That means the off day is the media day with a later start time, but without much time between the two games. After that, Games 5, 6, and 7 are each afforded a travel day/off day separate from a media day preceding it.
All in all, the NBA Cup setting compresses the amount you’re able to get and players you’re able to talk to, while the NBA Finals’ spread out format allows for much more diverse coverage.
2. NBA Cup Travel vs. NBA Finals Travel
As someone who lives in Los Angeles, planning for the NBA Cup is easy. The NBA announces the dates for the semifinals and Championship gamedays, so it’s pretty simple to plan a trip to Las Vegas in advance.
Another big upside of the NBA Cup is that everything is in one city and things are not too far apart from each other. That’s obviously very different from the Finals in June, where two cities on potentially both coasts could host a series. Also, having been to Las Vegas for entire Summer Leagues every year for the past 6 years, I’ve learned where things are pretty quickly in the city.
The NBA Finals are much different.
The first four games are obviously played in two different cities, and each game outside of Game 4 has its own media day AND off day/travel day.
We haven’t seen an NBA Finals go past five games in each of the last two seasons, with the Nuggets defeating the Heat in five games in 2023 and the Celtics defeating the Mavericks in five games in 2024. Personally, I’ve found that the most difficult part of a series is when a Finals series goes six or seven games.
I had the privilege of covering the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics. As someone who resides in Los Angeles, Games 4 through 6 and then a flight back home from Beantown while trying to get coverage, reporting, and video snippets out was one of the toughest stretches I’ve had in my career.
• Game 4 in Boston
• Off day — 5 hour, 40 minute flight at 8AM EST
• Media Day
• Game 5 in San Francisco
• Off day — 5 hour, 40 minute flight at 8AM PST (plus lost time going to East Coast)
• Media Day
• Game 6 in Boston
• Scramble to find last minute flight back to Los Angeles after game while covering NBA Championship
NBA Cup vs. NBA Finals atmosphere
This is where the NBA’s biggest problem with the NBA Cup currently lies, but it shouldn’t be that way for long.
The NBA Finals are the NBA Finals. It’s the biggest stage in basketball and you can feel it the moment you step off the plane and walk through the airport. And if that’s not enough, the 350-400 media members that occupy the arena’s lower and upper levels of the back of house sure let you know.
Boston, Denver, and San Francisco have some rabid fanbases, but having a game in a team’s city is the biggest benefit of an NBA Finals game when directly compared to an NBA Cup game.
The NBA Cup atmosphere has been fun, but the youth of the tournament as well as the lack of an actual home-court advantage for either team has made it tough for fans to show up and care thus far. But the NBA took major strides from Year 1 to Year 2 to make it even better.
In the first NBA in-season tournament, the first semifinal game was played on a Thursday afternoon at 2PM PST in Las Vegas. The game featured the Milwaukee Bucks against the Indiana Pacers in what was a fun game that was on while most of the country was at work. The fan turnout was also brutal, with a nearly half-empty T-Mobile Arena for a game featuring two small-market teams 1,800 miles away from Sin City.
The Bucks unveil their 2024 #EmiratesNBACup Championship banner! pic.twitter.com/gNvvyWVwhg
— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2024
The second game was a much different story. With a 6PM PST tipoff on a Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers took on the New Orleans Pelicans. At only 270 miles away, the Los Angeles Lakers have a strong fanbase in Vegas as well as a strong traveling contingent to the vacation destination. The Lakers host preseason games in Las Vegas often, and fans in L.A. have shown a willingness to make the trip out to support their team.
After a media day/off day on Friday, the Lakers and Pacers met in the Championship round on Saturday.
So not only were the games too early in the day, but they also competed with Thursday Night Football AND College Football Saturdays. On top of that, there were still other games going on during the week, which almost felt like it was taking away from the importance of the tournament.
This season, in Year 2, the NBA made some fantastic changes.
Under 10 min until tip between the Bucks and Thunder in the NBA Cup Championship and there are a lot of empty seats.
The arena should fill up shortly but the Vegas attendance and atmosphere has been a topic of discussion regarding the NBA Cup this week. pic.twitter.com/VvHpoQ2eGZ
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) December 18, 2024
First, the league spaced out the week, giving every team an off day, a media day, and a gameday. The NBA also made sure that every NBA Cup gameday would be the only games on that day.
Second, the league avoided the NFL completely, putting the semifinal games on a Saturday while the Championship game was on a Tuesday.
These changes, along with it being the second season of the NBA’s in-season tournament, allowed the league to make a big jump in the popularity of the NBA Cup.
Fan turnout for the NBA Cup Final between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks was solid, contrary to what the public may say, and the environment inside T- Mobile Arena was electric for most of the night.
Las Vegas is ready for an NBA team. I wasn't sure what the attendance would be like for an NBA Cup Final between Milwaukee and Oklahoma City on a Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in December but this crowd is amazing and they're still here doing the wave during a 19-point blowout late. pic.twitter.com/1cpDDtrg1F
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) December 18, 2024
After they won the NBA Cup, Giannis Antetkounmpo was seen screaming, “the job is done!” in the back hallways of the arena. Damian Lillard clutched at the NBA Cup trophy for what felt like the entire night. Although champagne wasn’t popped in the locker room after the win, it felt like the Bucks accomplished something of significance.
With it only being Year 2, the NBA Cup will continue to find ways to grow in popularity. The NBA Finals will remain the biggest stage for basketball, but there’s certainly room for the still new in-season NBA tournament.
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