The NBA Cup is back at a time when the league needs it to work the most

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate your time.

The NBA Cup starts on Tuesday! Remember that? I know it’s been a while.

This is the NBA’s in-season tournament for those of you out of the loop. It didn’t have a name last season, but now it has an expensive new sponsor and an official title: The Emirates NBA Cup. Exciting stuff.

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How it works is simple. Every team in the NBA is siloed off into one of six groups organized by conference. This year’s groups are as follows:

Eastern Conference Groups

• Group A: Knicks, Magic, Nets, Hornets, 76ers
• Group B: Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Raptors, Pistons
• Group C: Celtics, Wizards, Cavaliers, Hawks, Bulls

Western Conference Groups

• Group A: Timberwolves, Rockets, Clippers, Trail Blazers, Kings
• Group B: Thunder, Lakers, Jazz, Spurs, Suns
• Group C: Warriors, Mavericks, Pelicans, Nuggets, Grizzlies

The team with the best head-to-head record in group play wins the group. The winners of each group, along with two wild card teams, advance to play in the knockout rounds. From there, it’s like the playoffs in the middle of the regular season. The teams play until someone wins the championship.

It’s a simple yet fun process that brings a bit of spice to the NBA regular season — a product that critics of the league have argued has needed to be much spicier for years now.

The regular season matters in the sense that teams need to perform well in it to make the playoffs and win a championship. But it doesn’t feel like it matters. Teams rarely seem to be going full throttle on a night-to-night basis. There aren’t many rivalries that get people excited about certain regular-season matchups anymore. The 3-pointer takeover has created a bit of monotony to the game that makes the product less interesting for casual viewers.

Whether those criticisms of the league are entirely fair doesn’t matter. What does matter is that people are clearly tuning NBA basketball out. Ratings are dipping. Year over year, viewership has declined sharply since the start of the season. The league is currently competing against a lot, from the NFL to a monster of a World Series to a presidential election. Capturing attention during this time is tough.

That’s exactly why the NBA Cup has to work for the NBA.

It needs something to click. The league needs a spark. The tournament brings a bit of intrigue to the NBA regular season that wasn’t necessarily there before. The question is, will it work?

It can! Last year’s championship game did well. It was the most viewed non-Christmas NBA game since 2018. Part of that was likely the Lakers’ influence, certainly. But still. That’s a good sign for the league.

There seems to be something here. The NBA is doing its best to tap into it. We’ll have to see if it works long-term, but the league is smart to lean in as hard as possible on this.

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Please be serious, Tua

I’m not one of those folks who winces every time Tua Tagovailoa takes some contact on the football field.

This is football, after all. The dude is going to get hit. His history with concussions is scary, but he knows the risk and is willing to take it on. That’s his choice. We shouldn’t fret over it ourselves if he isn’t.

With that said, I couldn’t help but cringe on Monday night when he dove headfirst to make a tackle after throwing an interception. Then he had the nerve to joke about it, writes Charles Curtis:

“Of course, Tagovailoa’s history of head injuries was on everyone’s minds — remember, he suffered another one earlier this season — but the Dolphins QB was OK after getting hit despite everyone’s concerns.

On top of that, he was asked about lowering his head after the game and he actually joked about it: “That was pretty bad tackling form, though,” he said with a smile.

Thank goodness it wasn’t much worse.”

Tua, buddy. Please. We want better for you. It would help if you wanted better for yourself.

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Shane Waldron is out

Somebody had to take the fall for the Chicago Bears’ offensive struggles as of late. The team has only scored 27 points in its last three games. That’s unheard of.

There was talk about potentially benching Caleb Williams, but Matt Eberflus put that talk to bed.

Instead, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron takes the fall. Chicago reportedly let Waldron go on Tuesday morning. Eberflus released a statement on the decision:

“After evaluating our entire operation, I decided that it is in the best interest of our team to move in a different direction with the leadership of our offense. This decision was well-thought-out, one that was conducted deliberately and respectfully. I would like to thank Shane for his efforts and wish him the best moving forward.”

That’s a tough look for Waldron, but probably the right move. Benching Williams was a non-starter. He’s Chicago’s priority at this point. If it weren’t Waldron taking the fall here, it would’ve been Eberflus himself.

We’ll see how things go from here. But one thing is for sure: That hot seat is not cooling off just yet.

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Quick hits: NFL Power Rankings … Nikola Jokic’s dominance … and more

— Here are Christian D’Andrea and Robert Zeglinski with their weekly NFL power rankings, including more on the Steelers surprising dominance so far this year.

— Here’s Robert on Nikola Jokic’s dominance keeping the Nuggets afloat in a tough Western Conference.

— Speaking of saviors, Prince Grimes writes that Joel Embiid is returning just in time to save the 76ers from the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.

— Here’s Cory Woodroof with the 7 teams most likely to make a QB change in 2025.

— Here’s Tyler Netunno with CFB’s winners and losers for Week 11.

— This might be the best wrong answer Wheel of Fortune has ever blessed us with. Wow.

That’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic day. Peace.

-Sykes