The 2025 Finals matchup might prove the NBA Cup means more than you think

The NBA’s In-Season Event — formally rebranded because the Emirates NBA Cup in 2024 — has been looking for a signature second to solidify its that means to followers, and the 2025 NBA Finals matchup between the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder and Indiana Pacers may need simply created it.

Why? Nicely, as a result of Oklahoma Metropolis and Indiana have one thing in frequent apart from being two of the league’s smallest markets: They’re additionally the final two runners up within the NBA Cup, with the Pacers dropping to the Los Angeles Lakers within the inaugural Las Vegas competitors in 2023, and the Thunder dropping to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2024’s model.

Clearly, each groups have been motivated by dropping on the most important stage the league has to supply: a impartial court docket in Las Vegas in December, and are motivated to win the outdated, post-season match the league places on as some form of comfort bracket with a lot lamer courts in consequence.

That is additionally a reminder that each IST champions — the Lakers and Bucks — misplaced within the first-round of the following playoffs, proving that #TheCup additionally offers a championship hangover to its winners, cementing it as an actual, banner-worthy match.

However whereas this championship sequence ought to be enjoyable, sadly, we’ll have to attend till subsequent season to see if the Pacers or Bucks can use their expertise within the Finals to catapult them in direction of an much more significant prize subsequent 12 months: $500,000 for each participant on the roster of the NBA Cup champion.