The 2026-27 NBA regular season is in full swings, and that means that the fourth annual NBA Cup (technically, it's the third since it had a different name the first year) is nearly here.
The NBA Cup will tip off with group play on Friday, Oct. 30, with the knockout rounds beginning on December 4, and the finale of the event taking place at Hinkle Fieldhouse on December 11.
How does the NBA Cup work?
The 30 NBA teams are put into six groups. Three in the Eastern Conference and three in the West. The team with the best record in each group automatically makes it to the knockout rounds, along with one wildcard team from each conference.
From there, it is a traditional bracket like you'd see in the Elite Eight of March Madness. Eight turns to four. Four turns to two, and then, a winner is crowned. So far, past winners include the Los Angeles Lakers (2023-24), Milwaukee Bucks (2024-25), and New York Knicks (2025-26).
How much do the NBA Cup winners get paid?
The moment you make it to the final eight, you get paid. Every player who gets there gets paid 53,093 dollars. If they make it to the final four, that goes up to $106,817. The team that loses in the championship game nets $212,373 for every player on their roster. And the champions get over half a million bucks for every player on their team ($530,933, to be exact). Here is a chart with all that information, just in case you missed something.
Tournament Finish | Prize Per Player |
|---|---|
Champions | $530,933 |
Runner-Up | $212,373 |
Semifinalists | $106,187 |
Quarterfinalists | $53,093 |
To someone like Stephen Curry, who makes $62.6 million dollars this season, half a million is chump change. However, to Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Maleek Thomas, who is $1.4 million this year, that is a big deal.
The NBA is a brotherhood. These players spend more time with each other than their own families during the grind of the season. Even the high earners are going to be inspired by these cash incentives because they want their younger teammates, who haven't earned as much yet, to cash in on their tremendous athletic gifts.
To the credit of the league and its players, the NBA Cup has been an absolute success since its introduction to the regular season schedule back in 2023-24. With the league taking steps to reduce tanking, this season's NBA Cup is shaping up to be the best one yet.
Now that we know this is going to be filled with some great competition, only one question remains: which team's players will be taking home the grand prize?
Add us as a preferred source on Google