To some, the NBA Cup is a divisive tournament that lacks history, relevance and importance. But those who say that are simply deniers of the mystique of the NBA Cup.
From the moment it launched as the In-Season Tournament, the Lakers have respected what the competition meant. Their reward for doing so was the inaugural title.
“If we win tonight, we clinch in our group, which is amazing,” Pelinka said. “I think it means real money for the guys as they split the pot. But more than anything, we’d love to get to Vegas. Of course, being a Cup winner in the first year was really exciting for our group and I know the guys in the locker room take this seriously. They’d like to emerge as the champs of the Cup, for sure.”
Respecting the Cup is how you create a culture of winning. There are two finals each NBA season and the Lakers are looking to win one of them. There are two trophies given out to the last team standing and the Lakers are looking to hoist one of those.
This season, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the competition so far, joined by fellow Cup Respecters Oklahoma City, who made the final last season. The purple and gold have already clinched their spot in the quarterfinals because they understand the Cup just means more and they were extra hungry for those games this season.
Now, they are one quarterfinal win away from advancing back to Vegas for the second time in three years. It would be unprecedented success in the competition, which means the lesson here should be that if you treat the Cup with respect, good things happen.