Introducing the 2020-21 League Pass Cup

What if not just one championship were awarded in each NBA season? What if there was a trophy (a metaphorical trophy) for the best team that no casual fans ever watched? What if the teams left for dead by ESPN, TNT and ABC had a competition to see which of them maybe deserved some T.V. time?

Behold! The League Pass Cup. An effort to celebrate the lesser teams in the NBA and the bonkers basketball fans who actually watch them. I am anointing myself commissioner, because I’ve been trying to do this for literally a decade and having an independent newsletter finally gives me the right avenue.

Here’s how it works: we take the teams with the fewer number of national T.V. games — ESPN, ABC and TNT, we don’t count NBA TV in this effort — and focus on the games they play against each other. Invariably, these games are all on League Pass. (Note: there is one game in the first half of the season that will be on NBA TV — Magic vs. Knicks on January 18. This is the League Pass Cup version of a Saturday night Finals preview blockbuster.) We keep standings based just on these games between League Pass Cup eligible teams, and crown a winner at the end of the season. No playoffs, winning percentage rules since there are likely to be uneven numbers of games played.

There are 12 teams that were awarded zero or one national T.V. game in the first half of the 2020-21 NBA season: the Bulls, Cavaliers, Hawks, Hornets, Kings, Knicks, Magic, Pistons, Spurs, Thunder, Timberwolves and Wizards. These are our League Pass Cup teams this season. Note that only two of them (OKC and Orlando) made the playoffs last season and none of them are pegged to be better than play-in teams this season. It feels like the T.V. networks prefer “quality” and “star power.” Weird.

This is a weird season (in so, so many ways) and how teams do in the first half of the season might impact national T.V. scheduling for the second half. One or more of these teams might be so good in the first half that they end up with three or four national T.V. games in the second half. That’s fine. They will maintain their League Pass Cup eligibility, though no game broadcast on ESPN, ABC or TNT can count toward League Pass Cup standings.

Play-in or playoff games will not count toward League Pass Cup standings. The League Pass Cup officially ends when the regular season ends.

Because there are eight East teams and four West teams in the Cup, the East teams will likely play more games than the West teams (though it’s fairly balanced with the exception of Sacramento in the first half). That means every game counts a little more for the Spurs, Thunder, Kings and Timberwolves!

We’ll update League Pass Cup standings in the newsletter regularly and do occasional pull-out posts on it. If you’re following the League Pass Cup and use social media, I’d encourage you to use the hashtag #LeaguePassCup to spread the gospel.

Here’s the full League Pass Cup schedule through March 4. Click to embiggen.

The action gets started on December 23. Get excited!