Why the NBA Cup works for Adam Silver, even if it’s still a work in progress

LAS VEGAS – He NBA The Cup final on Tuesday night had many of the things one would want for an emerging product that the league began just a year ago with fanfare, rumors and the natural skepticism that comes with something that most fans of the sports do not fully understand.

Tuesday’s title game in Sin City featured a great setting. It featured a matchup between a not-too-distant defending champion, the Milwaukee Bucks, and a rising force, the Oklahoma City Thunder. And if, in the end, the match wasn’t exactly close, it was certainly very close, with a healthy dose of aggression, physicality and overly harsh fouls, a sign that the players, at least, thought the tournament had had enough. value to fight for.

There were also the necessary superstars in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard of the Bucks, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder. Add to that a crowd that was bigger and louder than it looked on TV, and this novel thing the league had conjured up seemed, at least up close, far from a failure.

But even though the Bucks won, 97-81, the most important contest remains undecided: Does this NBA Cup, in just its second year, ultimately trend toward victory for a league coveting something that will one day matter significantly to the sports fans?

The first ratings in the run-up to the three cup games here in Las Vegas were, in the second year of the competition, since its inaugural season. Word on the street and in the stadium was that tickets were easy to get and cheap.

None of those facts indicate that the cup was something to see.

And when gold confetti floated from the top of T-Mobile Arena, as the Bucks donned black T-shirts celebrating the title and Giannis strutted across the court with a giant, eye-catching gold trophy, the moment didn’t have that sizzling The Awesome feel. it feels like it happens in June, for a real NBA championship.

But there was still real joy in the Bucks’ on-court banter, interviews and celebrations. Milwaukee coach Doc Ricers later mingled with the media and remaining fans, smiling. Giannis took the opportunity to point out that the win marked a turnaround for his team, an exclamation point on what has been a huge turnaround after a disastrous 2-8 start.

“We’re getting better,” he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “We’re getting better. And we’re going to keep getting better.”

He was talking about his team, but he couldn’t have summed up the NBA’s plan for its new season tournament better.

In the NBA league office, there is still confidence in the concept and assurance that the NBA Cup, a priority for commissioner Adam Silver inspired by similar seasonal tournaments in European soccer, will have enough runway to have success in the coming years.

Bad ratings, mocking speakers, low ticket prices, and other potential warning signs won’t be evaluated as some kind of flashing red light. The league, sources say, is in the NBA Cup business for the long haul. And they largely like what they’ve seen.

Perhaps adjustments will be made. Perhaps the experiment needs to be perfected. But the NBA is more likely to assess the value of this in five or 10 years than in five or 10 days.

The players, coaches and general managers already like the tournament. Several general managers said their players have clearly been motivated to compete at a higher level in cup games, aligning with Silver’s desire to increase the quality of regular-season games.

“I love it,” one general manager told CBS Sports. “Anything that gets guys playing this hard this time of year is great. If all it does is that, why not do it? What’s the harm?”

Players have also been open about how playing a group stage, and then a knockout tournament for those who advance, also has the added benefits of simulating playoff basketball.

“So there’s an aspect to that,” the Thunder’s Jalen Williams said this week. “This is the closest you can get to a playoff environment for most of the entire season, other than a couple of games that will feel like that. We can simulate a lot of what happens during the playoffs, during those stretches, to where we can flex that muscle now and be better later in the season.”

A close game for the title would have been welcome. Those in the NBA league office, in more candid moments, would also admit that the Warriors or the Knicks could have spiced things up and slightly accelerated the pace at which the cup can cut through the noise in the sports ecosystem and one day it will be imported.

Still, this incarnation of the NBA Cup was… fun. The games were mostly good. The semi-finals were interesting and also fun. And although there was no Steph Curry, or, like last year, a LeBron James, to ensure attention and relevance, Giannis is not exactly a nobody.

The NBA Cup is not relevant yet. But maybe it will be five or ten years from now, when we look back and realize that the best thing Silver did with this event was give it the time any startup needs to become something that really matters.