Jamal Murray may be one of the faces of the fledgling NBA Cup in its second year, but he wasn’t just acting when he was asked if these games mean anything extra.
Maybe he was being a good salesman by establishing the stakes, though.
“Sure, the prize is, what, 500K?” Murray said Wednesday. “So that’s what we’re playing for. A little more? That’s what we’re playing for.”
Indeed, the winning team’s players will receive $514,970 this season after a minor change in the new collective bargaining agreement. (From now on, the prize money will come out $500,000 multiplied by the league’s “BRI Growth Factor” for the given salary cap year.) Of course, the reward also includes the somewhat manufactured prestige of hoisting the in-season tournament’s titular trophy, which Murray promoted in a commercial this summer alongside Anthony Davis, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton and Jrue Holiday.
“It was really cool,” Murray said. “Cool commercial. Cool to be in it. We did it in Vegas. So yeah, had some fun out there, too.”
The Nuggets (7-3) will play the first of four group-stage games Friday at the Pelicans, tipping off a road trip that also ends with a tournament game in Memphis next Tuesday. They will eventually host the Mavericks and Warriors at Ball Arena while attempting to advance to the quarterfinals of an event that has been rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup.
“Can you feel it?” coach Michael Malone said Wednesday. “It’s palpable. It’s, like, emanating.”
Sarcasm? Off the charts.
Still, the tournament managed to achieve a certain popularity among fans last season, even if competitive buy-in was inconsistent. By the time the Lakers defeated the Pacers for the championship, players attested the games felt certifiably intense. Financial incentives will do that. Especially for players on less lucrative contracts.
There’s also a trip to Las Vegas on the line during the group stage. Both semifinals and the championship game will be played in Sin City in December, hence the “Ocean’s 11” theme of the commercial featuring Murray. Paying homage to the 2001 film, he and several other players stage a heist of a Las Vegas casino to steal the trophy from Davis, only to discover that actors Michael Imperioli and Rosario Dawson have beaten them to the punch. They’ll have to play for the NBA Cup, the ad concludes.
“Maybe after my career, I might dabble in a little bit of acting,” Murray said in a behind-the-scenes video released by the NBA.
“Adam Silver and the league are constantly trying to find ways to bring fan engagement and excitement and viewership, so I love that,” Malone said, more earnestly this time. “But I’d be lying if I said that an in-season tournament game, or the Emirates Cup — is that the proper vernacular? — the Emirates Cup games count more than the other games. Every game for any coach is important. All 82. And yes, we’d love to be able to be a team that could win that and win a championship, which is yet to be done. Obviously only in its second year. But it’ll be great to get that going. They do a lot of advertising. I’ve got my (NBA Cup) shirt. Wearing it. A little shoutout. We’ll have some really fancy courts. Colorful courts.”
That’s to make sure consumers know they’re not watching just any regular-season NBA game. The novelty courts used for the tournament garnered heavy attention last year, mostly for being eyesores, and they’re back this season with new designs. The court at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans will be predominantly dark blue. The one in Memphis will be gray. Denver’s is yellow. Better that than an obnoxious red or orange, in Murray’s opinion.
“Some are better than the others, you know?” he said. “Hopefully they’ll be a little better this year. But I’m indifferent, man. I’m just here to play basketball.”
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The Nuggets didn’t make it to the knockout stage last year. Their pool this season was determined to be the proverbial Group of Death, but that was before injuries to the Pelicans and Grizzlies. Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, among others, have been deemed out indefinitely.
But if Denver’s head coach has any hunger to make it further in the tournament this year, he’s not showing it.
“It doesn’t get me more hyped for that game than any others,” Malone said, “to be very honest.”
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