Updated

Updated · NBA.com · Aug 12

NBA Sets 60-Game Emirates NBA Cup Schedule Starting Oct. 30 as Prime Carries 15 Matchups

Updated

Updated · NBA.com · Aug 12

NBA Sets 60-Game Emirates NBA Cup Schedule Starting Oct. 30 as Prime Carries 15 Matchups

Q: Why did the NBA abandon Las Vegas for a smaller, historic college arena to host its high-stakes Cup championship?

The NBA moved the Cup final from Las Vegas to Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse because it wants the event to feel more distinctive, more rooted in basketball history, and more intense on television. League officials have said the choice reflects a multiyear plan to stage the championship in “distinctive” venues that honor the sport’s past. Hinkle, a 9,100-seat arena, gives the NBA an iconic setting tied to Hoosiers, Indiana high school basketball, Oscar Robertson and even the league’s early years. That history is something Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, while bigger and more modern, could not match. There was also a practical and presentation reason. Commissioner Adam Silver had openly discussed using “storied college arenas,” and the NBA’s new media partner, Prime Video, is carrying the championship. A smaller, packed fieldhouse is expected to create a louder, college-style atmosphere and a more memorable TV product than a larger neutral-site arena. The move also followed signs that Las Vegas was not a permanent answer. Reports said the league’s deal with T-Mobile Arena was only year to year, and league officials were underwhelmed by the on-the-ground energy around the event. That made a relocation easier. So the switch was less about abandoning Las Vegas altogether and more about rebranding the Cup final as a special made-for-TV basketball event in a historic venue. Indianapolis also offers a strong basketball identity while remaining an established host city for major sports events.

3 articles · Updated · NBA.com · Aug 12

Oct. 30 opens the fourth NBA Cup with a Prime Video doubleheader: Knicks at 76ers and Lakers at Warriors, launching 60 group-play games through Nov. 27.
15 games will air nationally across Prime Video, NBC and ESPN, including an ESPN tripleheader on Nov. 25 and a Black Friday finale doubleheader on Prime.
The schedule spotlights offseason reshuffles, with LeBron James returning to Cleveland on Nov. 6 as a 76er and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Heat visiting Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Eve.
Eight teams will advance from group play to single-elimination knockout rounds on Dec. 4-9, with the championship set for Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.