2024 NBA Cup gives non-tourney teams absurd sked edge

Is everyone excited for the NBA Cup championship game? No? Me either.

But the NBA's pushing this mid-December tournament as if it's a December World Cup but with basketballs. (Likely pitch from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: "Let's drum up some publicity right before shopping season, the other holidays, bowl games, and whatever the hell the NFL does to make it so successful. Oh, right. Swift.").

All made-up dialogue, of course, but isn't the league going about this dead-in-December tourney the wrong way?

Sure seems like it.

For one, certain teams (I'm looking at you Celts and Cavs) weren't totally interested in winning this.

Teams are getting tons of much-needed rest. As much as 7-10 days and we're not even at the All-Star Break yet.

Here's what really gets my goat (Michael Jordan) is this, per NBA.com:

"All 67 games across both stages of the Emirates NBA Cup will count toward the regular-season standings except the Championship."

Mmm, huh? What's that again?

So, you're trying to tell me that your idea to get people to watch the NBA during what clearly, and forever will be, "football season," is a drummed-up tournament that doesn't reward anything ... oh wait -- that's right. It's a $514,971 payout for being on the Cup championship team and $205,988 for every player on the team that's runner-up.

Hmm. That seems like chump change to me for all of these NBA players, including rookies.

Here's the deal: Nobody knew what the hell this was a year ago and the Lakers thought by winning the tourney, which they did last season, that somehow momentum was going to carry them to another LeBron-led title. Instead, the Lakers ran out of gas in the Western Conference Finals in five games. (granted, it was against Denver). Coincidence? Yeah, likely. But why go after a faux title/trophy when you know the real one doesn't get awarded until June.?

Nobody is buying this. The tournament ratings are down 10 percent from last season.

Here's an idea, seriously. If you want people to pay attention and to realize this "tourney" actually matters during a long draining season, instead of just a financial bump, which is considerable and which is why I'm starting a new GoFundMe link ... nah ... how about going back to somewhere between 68-72 regular-season games, instead of 82?

The NBA season is too long. This is where load management comes in. You can prevent this, from losing fans to soccer and other sports. Do you think some of these NBA stars care about playing games in December? They do not.

Start the season on Christmas Eve and work from there.

OK, back to the proposal: Whichever team wins the NBA Cup title game gets an automatic playoff bid (No worse than No. 8), no matter what happens the rest of the season. If you want this to be a legit tourney, have the winner automatically qualify for the postseason. So even if that mid-December so-called title team suffers injuries and falters down the stretch, they still get into the playoffs because they endured this silly stuff and won the damn thing.

The regular season doesn't end until mid-April and the playoffs could go all the way to June 22. Take a look at the key dates from NBA.com. This is a long haul, my friends.

Every one of these NBA Cup final four teams should -- should -- make the playoffs, but exerting all of your energy in December for an unmemorable "title" is not solid strategy.

In the East, Atlanta has won seven of its last eight games, while Milwaukee has won 11 of its last 14 following a crummy start.

Meanwhile, out West, the Thunder have been rolling behind MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and despite being without injured Chet Holmgren.

That said I'll go with non-Cup semifinalists Boston and Cleveland to make the Eastern Conference Finals and Memphis and Dallas in the Western Conference Finals.

“Coming into this season, I think everybody understood better and everybody cared more (about the Cup), not just because of the opportunity to win money… you get an opportunity to come to Vegas and do something outside of the norm in the middle of our regular season,” Bucks star Damian Lillard said about the NBA Cup. “It’s an opportunity to win something. You know, it’s something that every team is competing for. And then you get here, there’s only a few teams that can win and it can energize and lift your team.

“It’s just a lot on the line,” Lillard added. “It requires you to focus. You’ve got to come and get the job done. So I think in that way it’s similar to a playoff experience, just that you’ve got to get the job done.“As the years continue to go by, I think it will … carry more and more weight. People will start to care more and more about it.”

No, Dame, they won't. It only matters if you capture the real thing and get that true championship ring.

Houston’s Fred VanVleet is an NBA champion (with Toronto in 2019) and coach Ime Udoka coached the Celtics to the finals in 2022, but most of the Rockets roster has never experienced a playoff game. This weekend, however it shakes out, automatically provides an invaluable experience to them of learning to play for something.

“We want to win. We want to win the whole thing,” VanVleet said. “That was our goal from the beginning, was to come here and win the championship. Just getting here was not really our goal. But it’s new to everybody.

“I watched LeBron James pop champagne in December last year. I don’t know if anybody could’ve ever imagined that 20 years ago.”

Yeah, but wrong, Fred: Real champagne, the best kind -- you know -- is for NBA Finals champions.

Winners. Ring bearers. Actual champs.

Not deluded ones.

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