Tim Bontemps of ESPN reports that NBA is shifting towards moving the semifinals from Las Vegas, potentially even stripping a neutral-venue system for the final game too, as the atmosphere in Las Vegas didn't match the expectations.
NBA Cup will conclude for the third time in the history tonight as the New York Knicks take on the San Antonio Spurs.
As the third season of this in-season tournament is over a question is asked, what does the future hold for the NBA Cup?
Adam Silver and NBA executives are happy with the attention that it attracted in the early phase of the season where other sports like American football are dominating the market in the US, players are also bought in, in part due to a $500.000 prize money reward for the champion.
One thing is there that hurts the executives though, and that will force some changes.
Up to now, neutral venue in Las Vegas was selected for the semifinals and final games.
This year, there were many empty seats, especially in upper levels of the arena in Las Vegas during semifinal games.
As Tim Bontemps of ESPN reports, NBA Cup will remove the neutral venue for the semifinals game from the next season.
Same source clarified that an option of the Final game also not having a neutral venue is under consideration.
For example, this season, the Magic would have faced a 16-day road trip if they had beaten the Knicks on Saturday as Orlando starts a four-game western road trip Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, they went to Las Vegas instead of playing a home game against the New York Knicks in semifinals.
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