Andy Bailey@@AndrewDBaileyIncluded Columnist IVDecember 18, 20242024 NBA Cup Biggest Winners and Losers: Giannis Antetokounmpo, SGA and More
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Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jalen WilliamsJeff Bottari/NBAE through Getty Images
The 2024 NBA Cup is formally total, and the Milwaukee Bucks are your in-season competition champs.
Behind a suppressing protective effort, the Bucks won the title video game on Tuesday, 97-81.
And now that the competition is covered, we have lots of winners and losers from this year's affair to talk about.
The greatest on either side of that line can be discovered listed below.
Loser: Some of the Casual Fans' Experience
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Luka DončićSam Hodde/Getty Images
As you'll see, there are a lot of wins for the NBA, its groups and its gamers from the NBA Cup, however it's definitely not best.
For something, intermingling the Cup's schedule with the routine season is a little complicated. The in-season competition video games would feel a little larger if they were all restricted to one part of the year.
The NBA might even have some nights (and days) with a March Madness-like schedule. Have 20-plus groups on the slate, stagger the start times and get some great studio analysis teams to shepherd us through the whole thing.
The courts might be softened a bit, too. There's absolutely nothing incorrect with desiring distinct floorings to set these video games apart from the routine season, however the deep reds, blues and greens practically compose the memes for us.
Subtle tweaks like that, in addition to a more collective effort to attend to tumbling and market lesser-known groups and stars (both inside and out of the competition) might assist the league much better attend to a concern it was targeting when it envisaged the Cup in the very first location.
The NBA has actually never ever had more ability and skill, however television scores aren't showing that this season.
The casual fans have not completely purchased into this brand-new competition yet, however it's method prematurely to quit on it.
Winner: Fans of Early-Season Intensity
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Isaiah Hartenstein and Anthony DavisRonald Martinez/Getty Images
Whether you appreciate the NBA Cup separately, it would have been difficult to see this year's video games without seeing a little increase in strength from the gamers.
Sure, there's additional money on the line. Which needs to feel much more concrete for the groups that made the knockout round.
Even throughout swimming pool play, many of the Cup video games felt a little bit more extreme, at least relative to what we've grown utilized to from November and December contests in current history.
To the degree that was among the league's objectives for this occasion, I believe it can meticulously examine that box.
