Analysis: If this is the end, NBA Cup in Las Vegas went out on a high note

The “Jackals” fan group flown to Las Vegas by the San Antonio Spurs for their NBA Cup championship game against the New York Knicks practically shook T-Mobile Arena during a dominant second-quarter stretch on Tuesday night.     

The larger pro-Knicks crowd took it upon themselves to drown them out a few times when star point guard Jalen Brunson got the ball with “MVP” chants.

The latter contingent got the last laugh as New York erased a five-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to beat San Antonio 124-113 and become the third-ever NBA Cup champions crowned on the Strip.

And unfortunately, it sounds like the Knicks’ title — which followed the Los Angeles Lakers in 2023 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024 in the first two editions of the event — might be the last awarded locally.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on television earlier in the night that the league and broadcast partner Amazon Prime were discussing major changes starting next year.

“Maybe go to some unique locations for the final game,” he said. “(Amazon) suggested, for example, some storied college arenas. We’re looking for other ways we could do this.”

And, by collegiate venues, he doesn’t mean taking the show down the street to Thomas & Mack Arena.

The NBA had already previously announced that this would be the last year with Las Vegas employed as the semifinal host for a pair of games on Saturday, but it was expected to retain the final assignment.

It’s a shame that’s no longer looking like the case especially after the Knicks’ win led by Brunson’s official Cup MVP performance — the fans called it — showed how well a game the NBA hopes only increases in magnitude and interest fits here.

This was not lifeless neutral-venue scene that some have accused T-Mobile Arena of being for the NBA Cup. In fairness, those might be fair critiques for a handful, if not majority, of the semifinal games over the last three years.

But it’s not Las Vegas’ fault.

Fan bases have only three days to plan a trip between the opening 8-team round of the knockout stage of the in-season tournament on Tuesday to Saturday’s final four.   

The league got lucky last year when the Atlanta Hawks made a surprise run to the semifinals on the same weekend the Falcons were scheduled to play the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Atlanta fans were already in town and gave the Eastern Conference semifinal some juice despite its team losing to Milwaukee.

The Lakers will always be a draw in Las Vegas so the first year benefited from their inclusion and the swarm of both local fans and those willing to jump on the I-15 North.

But there was no such luck this year with the Spurs upsetting the Lakers in the quarterfinals. Saturday’s semifinals therefore reportedly drew poor attendance and may have been the final taste of sour for the league to toss the Cup elsewhere.

The championship game should have Silver and his crew reconsidering though.

“Any time you can participate in any event where you (can be) the last one standing and you’re able to hang a banner especially in iconic (Madison Square Garden), you take it seriously,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said on the court after the win. “All of our guys took it seriously, but the most exciting part of it is, I feel like we’re in New York right now.”

That message got a large roar from a crowd that largely stuck around to watch the trophy presentation instead of beat the traffic out of the area.

Brunson, who scored 65 points combined between the Spurs’ win and Saturday’s 132-120 victory over the Orlando Magic, kept the celebration raging.

 “We got down 10 or whatever it was and we found a way to win,” he said. “That’s it. We’re going to find a way. That should be our motto going forward: Find a way.”

Luckily for Las Vegas, the city won’t need to find a way to stay involved with the NBA. The Summer League is entrenched firmer than ever at Thomas & Mack and Cox Pavilion after 21 years.

And, in a pregame news conference, Silver re-affirmed Las Vegas’ long-rumored prospects as the future home of an expansion franchise. He’s pushed back the timetable endlessly over the last decade, but gave something resembling a deadline for an update in his latest comments.

“I don't have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team,” Silver said. “I think now we're in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we'll make a determination.”

Wouldn’t an expansion announcement here a year from now as part of the end of the fourth NBA Cup work well?

The door should be left open just in case it’s possible.

From an optimistic point of view, Silver also flirted with the idea of moving the Cup after last year though with fewer specifics of actual ideas. Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers scoffed at the thought after winning the tournament, however, and said a change would be unnecessary.

Peers and players agreed. Silver has done well getting the players to buy into a concept that was previously foreign in American sports, largely because of a $500,000 prize to every member of the winning team.

But a midseason trip to Las Vegas has also served as motivation with superstars like LeBron James, the inaugural NBA Cup MVP, and Stephen Curry citing the draw of the city.

Durham, North Carolina, or Lexington, Kentucky, for instance, aren't going to provide players with quite the same selling point. The infrastructure would also pale in comparison to what's been established at T-Mobile Arena and the Strip resorts, with the four-day stretch over the last three seasons turning into a league-wide rendezvous point.  

The NBA belongs in Las Vegas. The NBA Cup belongs in Las Vegas.