User:Desmond Hobson/sandbox3

The NBA Champions Cup was a simulated in-season tournament to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the National Basketball Association, which was celebrated during the 2021–22 season. Had it actually been held, the dates would have been February 18 to March 1, 2022, with the sites being four courts at three locations on the Las Vegas Strip: Allegiant Stadium, T-Mobile Arena, and Michelob Ultra Arena. All locations are either on MGM Resorts properties or nearby.

After entering the knockout phase of the 12-day event as the eighth seed, the Golden State Warriors knocked off the 9th-, 1st-, 4th-, and 3rd-seeded teams to win the Champions Cup and a $10-million cash prize.

Background
Competition similar to the Champions Cup have been held in real life.

Since 2014, the NBA Summer League has held its officially-branded league in Las Vegas (but at different venues than the Champions Cup: Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion, both at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas). This is a mini-season competition, with teams playing three games each in a preliminary round, followed by a knockout stage. All players, officials, and broadcasters stay at local hotels and use common practice facilities. The league typically lasts for about three weeks.

The 2020 NBA Bubble, at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Bay Lake, Florida, was a similar concept. In this setting - which was used to finish the 2019–20 NBA season after it had been stopped due to Rudy Gobert's positive test for COVID-19 - 22 teams competed in some regular-season games followed by a play-in game and a full playoff. The bio-secure bubble was open for 93 days.

In some interviews, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has talked about holding a mid-season tournament, both to drum up interest in the league during the season and to deal with fan and media complaints about load management. Meanwhile, the WNBA and NBA G League both have midseason competitions; the WNBA's is called the Commissioner's Cup and the G League ran the Showcase Cup in the runup to the NBA G League Showcase in December 2021. The Showcase was held at Mandalay Bay, but at two courts placed in usual convention space, not the Michelob Ultra Arena (which is on-property and was originally called Mandalay Bay Events Center).

Structure
All 30 current NBA teams selected all-star teams from their franchise histories. Each team had 12 active players: four guards, four forwards, two centers, and two "wild cards." A practice squad of three players was also designated; therefore, a total of 450 players were sent to Las Vegas.

As in the Summer League, each team played three games to begin. At least one of these games was against a team from the opposing conference, and the league tried to balance each team's schedule to avoid predominantly strong or weak opponents. Ten games were played on each of the first three days, with each club playing once on consecutive days. Eight games were played on the fourth day and seven on the fifth day, with each team playing on only one of those days. The teams were ranked on a points system, in which the winner of each game received three points and the winner of each quarter received one. If teams were tied during a quarter, each received half a point. If a game was tied and sent to overtime, all three points went to the winning team with no split.

After the final day of play, the 16 top teams - regardless of conference - advanced to a single-elimination tournament, with all games played at Allegiant Stadium. The 14 remaining teams played a single consolation game at either T-Mobile Arena or Michelob Ultra Arena.

Venues
Allegiant Stadium is the home field of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League, the UNLV Rebels football program - which plays in the Mountain West Conference as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision - and the Las Vegas Bowl. The NFL staged the 2022 Pro Bowl there and has awarded Super Bowl LVIII to the venue. Allegiant Stadium has also occasionally played host to concerts and WWE pay-per-view cards, and was the site of the 57th Academy of Country Music Awards. However, it has never staged a basketball game. It was divided in half for the Champions Cup with courts on the north and south sides, divided at the 50-yard line. Games alternated between the courts. For preliminary rounds, the capacity was 20,000; for semifinals and finals, it was raised to nearly 40,000 by offering upper-deck seating.

T-Mobile Arena is the home ice of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League and has hosted more pay-per-view cards of the Ultimate Fighting Championship than any other venue. The main annual basketball event there is the Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament held every March. Also held there have been the CBS Sports Classic and the Roman Main Event, and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament will come to T-Mobile Arena for its West Regional in 2024. The capacity for basketball is 19,000.

Michelob Ultra Arena is the home court of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association and will be the home field of the Las Vegas entry in the National Lacrosse League as of early 2023. Recent basketball events there prior to the Champions Cup included the 2022 Pac-12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament and the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game. The capacity for basketball is 11,500.

Mandalay Bay held all practice facilities and had accomodations for referees, media, and other support personnel. Players on teams in the Eastern Conference stayed at the Delano Las Vegas, while those on teams in the Western Conference stayed at the NoMad, a hotel adjacent to Park MGM. An opening-night welcome party was held at Hakkasan inside the MGM Grand resort and casino.

Game results
Friday, February 18 Saturday, February 19 Sunday, February 20 Monday, February 21 Tuesday, February 22

All-tournament teams
Most valuable player - Stephen Curry, Warriors First team: Second team:
 * Stephen Curry
 * Shaquille O'Neal, Magic
 * Michael Jordan, Bulls
 * Chris Mullin, Warriors
 * Chris Paul, Clippers
 * DeAndre Jordan, Clippers
 * Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
 * Scottie Pippen, Bulls
 * Penny Hardaway, Magic
 * Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks

All-Star Monday
The league's annual "All-Star Saturday" was moved to March 1, the day before the tournament final. It was held at Michelob Ultra Arena with these results.

Three-Point Contest
This contest featured both male and female athletes, to recognize not only the 75th anniversary of the NBA but also the 25th anniversary season of the WNBA which had just preceded it.

Television
ESPN and TNT split coverage of the Challenge Cup. ESPN also placed some preliminary and consolation games on ESPN3, while TNT placed some games in those rounds on NBA TV. TNT and TBS simulcast the championship game.

Announcer list

 * Marv Albert, Doug Collins, Craig Sager (joined by Tracy Wolfson for the final) - TNT
 * Dick Stockton, Hubie Brown, Tracy Wolfson - TNT
 * Ian Eagle, Matt Guokas, Allie LaForce - TNT
 * Kevin Harlan, Candace Parker, David Aldridge - NBA TV
 * Brian Anderson, Brent Barry, Kristen Ledlow - NBA TV
 * Joel Meyers, Steve Smith, Jenny Dell - NBA TV
 * Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson - ESPN
 * Mark Jones, George Karl, Doris Burke - ESPN
 * Roger Twibell, Doc Rivers, Ric Bucher - ESPN/ESPN3
 * Dave Pasch, John Salley, Adrian Karsten - ESPN3
 * Mark Kestecher, P. J. Carlesimo, Bonnie-Jill Laflin - ESPN3
 * Jim Durham, Ros Gold-Onwude, Jorge Sedano - ESPN3
 * Roxy Bernstein, Bobby Hansen, Cassidy Hubbarth - ESPN3

Radio
ESPN Radio aired 16 total games, including all games in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Sean Kelley and Carlesimo called the final. Other games were called by Pasch/Salley and Bernstein/Hansen.