Love it or hate, the NBA Cup is here to stay. And years from now, we’re going to look at it differently.
The New York Knicks became the latest team win the NBA Cup, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 124-113 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It’s the first time in 52 years that the Knicks have ever won anything in the NBA. The last time New Yorkers celebrated a professional basketball title, Knicks superfan Spike Lee was only 16 years old.
Lee, now 68, witnessed his beloved Knicks beat Victor Wembanyama’s Spurs in Las Vegas. Wembanyama, 21, wasn’t even born yet the last time the Knicks reached a championship game. It was 1999 and the grit-and-grind Knicks were coached by Jeff Van Gundy and spearheaded by Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, and Anthony Mason.
Now, the Knicks can finally hang a banner at Madison Square Garden next to NBA titles won in 1970 and 1973 thanks to a new group of gritty guys, headed by Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
“This is on the road to an NBA championship,” Lee said on “NBA Nightcap” on Amazon Prime. It’s a great day. It’s not done yet. It’s a tough league. It’s gonna be a fight.”
Brunson put on an MVP performance in Vegas, scoring 40 points in the semifinal win over the Orlando Magic and 25 points in the championship game against the Spurs.
The former Villanova standout is playing at an elite level. New York Knicks coach Mike Brown hammered home a specific point he’s been making in recent weeks — that Brunson, even this early in the season, belongs in the regular-season MVP conversation.
“He makes the game easier for everybody,” Brown said. “That’s what MVPs are supposed to do, and he definitely did that tonight. … At the end of the day, he carries you home. It’s beautiful to be able to see him do what he’s more than capable of doing on a national stage like this, in an environment like this. Hopefully you guys as media and the fans out there can continue talking about him as an MVP of this league because that’s exactly what he is.”
If Brunson keeps playing this way, the MVP case is going to get even more compelling.
He was the NBA’s clutch player of the year last season, so it’s not like he’s been ignored by voters. Brown just wants him to be in the hunt for a bigger trophy.
“You see a lot of other great candidates that are well-deserving but I don’t ever hear Jalen’s name,” Brown said. “When you’re first or second in either conference, and you’re putting up the numbers that he’s putting up, his name’s got to be one of the first names coming out of somebody’s mouth.”
For the past three years since its inception, the NBA Cup has seen its share of detractors. One of the loudest critics is The Athletic’s John Hollinger, who suggested that the in-season tournament forced players to play more games leading to potential injuries.
Critics also say the whole thing is a gimmick, from the outrageously loud and colorful courts to the somewhat confusing group tiebreakers.
Say what you want about the NBA Cup, at least the NBA is making an effort to make waves in the fall season and put a small dent on the NFL’s stranglehold on viewership.
It appears to be working. The NBA has seen a surge in fan interest in the early portion of the 2025-26 season, with a 92% bump in viewership for nationally televised games. Thanks to new broadcast partners NBC and Amazon Prime, joining ABC/ESPN, the league is enjoying its best viewership numbers in 15 years.
But the biggest win so far is the fact that the players are embracing the NBA Cup. They competed hard each and every night the Cup games were held, injecting a playoff-type atmosphere that has resulted in some fantastic games.
“This is not a typical regular-season game,” Wembanyama said after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals. “We knew if that if we lose, we’re out. And you know, some people are built for these moments. Some aren’t. But we definitely are.”
The NBA Cup games in Las Vegas have replaced the league’s Christmas Day lineup as the Association’s marquee event of the fall. It hasn’t overtaken the NFL yet, but in three short years it has generated a lot of buzz and made the early portion of the season far more interesting.
The NBA Cup final didn’t count in the standings, and the stats won’t be added to any official totals. A trophy was at stake and $533,000 cash bonus for the winning team.
It was the third different finals matchup in the NBA Cup — which was initially referred to as the In-Season Tournament. During its inception, the L.A. Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers. In the second year, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to a convincing victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Add the New York Knicks to the champions list.
“The Cup is special. I think you saw tonight, here in Vegas the semifinals and finals, it brought out the best in all the teams,” Knicks center Towns said while proudly wearing a championship T-shirt.
“For us to be in a position to say that we won and we’re the champions, and to have this dope-ass shirt on with the Knicks saying as champions is humbling and an honor.”