The In-Season Tournament is back for its second run. It underwent some changes over the year and was rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup, but the concept still remains the same. Different jerseys, new courts, and of course, the $500,000 cash prize. While the cash prize was on everyone’s mind last year, Draymond Green doesn’t believe the same to be the case anymore.
Advertisement
The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup kicked off last night, with the Warriors taking a 3-point win over the Mavericks in their 1st contest. After the win, Green spoke about the NBA Cup on his podcast, The Draymond Green Show With Baron Davis.
“The courts make you automatically feel like something’s different. You walk out there on that court, the court’s different, the jersey’s different. You automatically like something’s different,” Green said, talking about the different aura surrounding the NBA Cup.
The Warriors star talked about the aura surrounding the matchup and compared it to the team’s old battling grounds, the Oracle Arena. While Chase Center has been a great venue, it has never been able to replicate the kind of energy the crowd brought at Oracle until last night, at least according to Green.
Green talked about how many were afraid the hype would die down, but how the games yesterday proved that it isn’t the case. The Pistons won an OT thriller against the Heat. The Hawks beat the Celtics in Boston without Trae Young. Portland beat the Timberwolves.
Green pointed out how the NBA Cup is like an NCAA tournament. He clarified that not because it’s one and done, but because once you lose a group stage game, your destiny isn’t in your hands. “Now, if you can win out, you control everything. But if you lose, you’re at the mercy of everybody else,” he shared.
After a loss, a team’s chance to proceed depends on the other teams in the group, or the overall conference, depending on whether Wildcard is in play.
Continuing, Green shared how it started off as hype about the $500,000 prize money, but no one even mentions it anymore.
“It started off as like this whole thing of like, yo we can go in 500,000 and it’s crazy BD[Baron Davis]. Nobody even mentions the money anymore.”
Draymond lauded the NBA for this initiative. He said,
“The NBA has done an incredible job of creating this NBA cup. And I think as fans, and when I say as fans, I am a fan of this game. As fans, we need to embrace this thing.”
Green is totally on the point about how the fans need to embrace the Cup. For the longest time, the start of the season games, especially the ones before Christmas, used to fail to get the audience’s attention. At times, even players have admitted that they weren’t locked in because of it being an early-season game.
However, with the NBA Cup, the games in November and December have an impact and can lead to some hardware and cash. This year, the players know what’s at stake and are even more locked in to go secure that bag.
