Dec 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; The Emirates NBA Cup logo at midcourt at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The Emirates NBA Cup enters its fourth season of existence in the 2026-27 campaign, and it has quickly become a staple of the league’s regular season calendar. Last season’s championship ended up being an NBA Finals preview with the New York Knicks defeating the San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers — the inaugural champions of the tournament — have yet to return.
One of the unique factors of the NBA Cup is the specialty court designs that all 30 teams deploy for their group stage and potential knockout home games. And with the regular season set to tip off next week, the league — in partnership with each team — has unveiled those court designs for the 2026-27 edition of the tournament. The Lakers’ design can be found here:
The Lakers’ floor for the NBA Cup this year: https://t.co/lg8kBe1Qqv
— Trevor Lane (@TrevorLane) October 13, 2026
The court features a black outline with white lettering and the standard “Los Angeles” font. Of course, there are the league-wide Michelob Ultra and Emirates NBA Cup logos, but each team is given the sideline to do something unique to them.
For the Lakers, that is 17 white stars, one for the each of the NBA titles the franchise has won. Most of the other franchises either left that sideline blank or put in a team motto. For example, the Milwaukee Bucks have “Fear the Deer” on the sideline.
The only franchises to do something like the Lakers — neither leaving it blank nor doing a catchphrase — are the Boston Celtics (Bill Russell’s No. 6) and the Toronto Raptors (a maple leaf).
Lakers full Emirates NBA Cup Schedule
The full Group Stage schedule for the Emirates NBA Cup was announced earlier this summer. Group play begins almost right away, with the first games happening in the second week of the regular season. The Lakers share a group with the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and reigning Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs.
Below is the full Lakers schedule for group play, with all four games taking place on a Friday with three national TV games.
Friday, October 30: @ Warriors, Chase Center, San Francisco, 7 p.m. PT, Prime Video
Friday, November 6: vs. Trail Blazers, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, 7 p.m. PT, Prime Video
Friday, November 20: vs. Kings, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, 7 p.m. PT, Spectrum SportsNet
Friday, November 27: @ Spurs, Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, 6:30 p.m. PT, Prime Video