Knicks-Sixers II, Lakers-Warriors top 1st Cup day
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- Knicks-76ers and Lakers-Warriors headline the first NBA Cup opening day on Oct. 30, with reigning NBA champion New York facing Philadelphia and LeBron James
- The league announced the full NBA Cup schedule plus 15 nationally televised games airing on ESPN, Prime Video, or NBC/Peacock
- LeBron James chose the 76ers in what he called his final free agency decision; the Knicks will raise their NBA championship banner against Philadelphia on league opening night Oct. 20
- The Knicks beat the Spurs in both last season's NBA Cup final and NBA Finals — the first NBA Cup winner to refuse a banner before capturing an NBA championship
- Cup games run every Friday Oct. 30–Nov. 27 with additional games Nov. 24–25; quarterfinals Dec. 4–5, semifinals Dec. 8–9, and the championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Dec. 11
- Top team from each group plus one wild-card per conference advances to the quarterfinals; the Lakers won the inaugural 2023 event (then called the in-season tournament) and the Milwaukee Bucks won in 2024
Why it matters: The NBA stacked Oct. 30 with its two highest-profile matchups to anchor the in-season tournament's national TV push, then doubled the drama on Oct. 20 by pairing the Knicks' banner ceremony with LeBron James' Philadelphia debut — a schedule engineered to maximize Peacock/NBC viewership.
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