The Race For The NBA Cup Is Back And Frankly It's Hard To Imagine Anyone Gives A Shit

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The race to the NBA Cup is finally here! Can you feel the excitement?????

Listen, I don't want this to come off as me being anti-NBA Cup, given that I actually do like the idea in theory, but with things officially slated to kick off tonight across the league, I'm left with pretty much the same feeling as I had this time last year.

……..so what?

I'm not someone who thinks the NBA regular season is meaningless. In fact, I believe the exact opposite. I believe that every single game from October until the Spring matters. You could make the case that I am the NBA's target audience, as I watch every single night and don't hate the product. I understand that this NBA Cup is designed to attract casual fans and maybe increase the competitiveness of a mid November basketball game, but now in Year 2, is that even happening?

Said another way, when I look at the NBA slate tonight it makes absolutely no difference to me that these are NBA Cup games. That extra "meaning" just isn't there. For example, is tonight's NYK/PHI game more interesting tonight because it's an NBA Cup game, or because it's Joel Embiid's debut? That's a big game regardless of what it happens. Same thing with Klay's return to GS for the first time as a Mav. Is there extra juice in that matchup because it's coming in a fake tournament?

To me, I say no. I don't think the players were going to give 80% in that matchup and are now going to give 100% because it's an NBA Cup game, and I think it brings up an interesting question for Adam Silver and the league as a whole.

As long as the Larry O'Brien trophy exists, how do you convince me and basketball fans everywhere that these games "mean more"? How do you get fans to put any sort of stock into the NBA Cup to the same level as the NBA title? I'm not sure you can.

I get the new colored courts are a fun way to distinguish these games and they're a way to attract new fans (I guess), but that doesn't mean shit to me when it comes to the "significance" of these games. Over my dead body would I want my favorite team to over-exert themselves just to win these "special" regular season games at a time when they are currently in the process of a title defense. I know Silver wants this thing to be viewed like the soccer tournaments overseas, so my question is at what point does that transition happen?

What exactly does it take for these games to be viewed that way? Is it just a time thing? If so, how many years does it take? Because if someone like me, who lives and breathes this sport and this league feels absolutely nothing ahead of today's NBA Cup slate, I'm pretty sure the casual NBA fan surely doesn't give a fuck.

At the end of the day, that's the hurdle that I'm not sure the NBA will be able to overcome, regardless of what type of marketing campaign and new court design they throw into this idea. Teams (and fans) care about the Larry O'Brien trophy. As long as that thing exists, that will always be what the NBA season is about. Does anyone give a shit that the Lakers won this thing last year? Did that matter at all once they were quickly eliminated from the real tournament that matters? 

I dunno, maybe I'm wrong here and there are fanbases and teams across the league that are preparing for tonight as if it's the first game of the Playoffs. I know that's what the league wants to happen, but to me all this is tonight is your standard NBA Tuesday night slate with fancy-looking courts. I just don't feel the significance yet, and I'm not sure I ever will.