Kansas coach Bill Self likes the hypothetical of the NBA playing the championship game of its midseason “NBA Cup” tournament in Allen Fieldhouse.
The title game is typically played in Las Vegas, and it was no different this season. The New York Knicks defeated San Antonio to win the 2025 title on Dec. 16.
League commissioner Adam Silver brought up the idea of playing the title game in “storied college arenas” during an interview with the “NBA on Prime.”
“We’re talking with Amazon Prime about whether it makes sense to maybe go to some unique locations for the final game,” Silver said. “They’ve suggested, for example, some storied college arenas. So, we’re just looking at other ways we could do this.”
According to Self, KU hasn’t yet talked to the NBA about the possibility of hosting the NBA Cup championship at Allen Fieldhouse.
That said ...
“Why wouldn’t they want to come here?” Self said. “Good gosh. If they’re going to try to play in historic college venues, why wouldn’t the NBA want to be here? I know KD (Kevin Durant) said at one time that this was the best place that he’d ever played. So I don’t know if that still holds true, but I would think that would be a great option.”
Allen Fieldhouse is just one of several possible arenas to be considered if the NBA does shift from Las Vegas to college arenas. Other potential venues include Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse and Indiana’s Assembly Hall.
Allen Fieldhouse is no stranger to hosting NBA games. The iconic arena held an exhibition game between Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls vs. the Seattle SuperSonics on Oct. 11, 1997.
“This was Jordan in his heyday. It was peak Jordan,” former KU guard Ryan Robertson told the Lawrence Journal-World. “And so to be a basketball player and have Michael Jordan in the Fieldhouse was a very big deal.”
The Philadelphia 76ers also played the Utah Jazz in an exhibition matchup in 2001. That matchup saw the return of former KU coach Larry Brown and former KU player Greg Ostertag.
If Allen Fieldhouse does end up hosting another game, this time the court could look a little different. In fact, a topic of discussion on social media has been whether Kansas would allow the NBA to change the court design for the potential NBA Cup title game.
For the tournament, the league has changed colors on individual team courts, added NBA Cup trophy logos and made other modifications to signify the event. Even the championship game had a big NBA Cup trophy logo at half court.
Many KU fans don’t want to see any modifications to the iconic arena, but Self does not share that sentiment.
“Whatever would most put us in a position for us to host, I think we would be totally happy and content doing whatever the NBA wanted us to do,” Self said, “if we can get that.”