NBA Poll: Majority Of Hoops Wire Readers Think In-Season Cup Is Dumb

Last year, it was called the In-Season Tournament. This year, it’s the NBA Cup. But call it whatever you want — no matter how you spin it, Hoops Wire readers would be just fine if it went away.

We know this because I ran a poll on X that asked readers their opinion. Of the nearly 500 who have responded, a whopping 49.5 percent said they thought the NBA Cup is a “dumb” idea. Just 15.1 percent responded that they “love it,” while the remaining 35.4 percent responded that they had no opinion (which is basically where I stand).

NBA Cup feelings …

— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) December 3, 2024

Actually, I probably am leaning toward dumb — or more accurately, not necessary. I don’t think the Cup does a single thing to draw in more eyeballs. Yes, it creates extra social-media dialogue for those who are already watching.

But chatter on social media doesn’t mean money. It’s only another way for the NBA to try to say, Look how cool we are.

That said, I do like the outlandish courts and how the league has to scramble to find games for those who don’t qualify for the Cup quarterfinals. It brings a new twist to everything.

But again, I’m going to be watching, anyway. It sure wouldn’t make me want to watch or attend a game. Frankly, I think teams waste a lot of money on City Edition uniforms and courts that in the long run … well, means little.

If I ran the NBA, each team would have two sets of uniforms, period. White at home and dark on the road. All of this extra stuff is to try to drive ratings and merchandise sales. It may work, a teeny tiny little bit, but not much more than that.

And the bottom line is you can’t fool people into thinking an NBA Cup is actually worth anything. It’s just a meaningless trophy in the middle of the year.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver isn’t going to let this die, though. It’s his baby. So if you want to get rid of it, you probably need to wait until the league has someone else in charge.

Until then, you can just keep doing what you normally do. You can just ignore it.

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