NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
The New York Knicks have not won an NBA title since the early 1970s. It’s also been more than a quarter century since the franchise won the Eastern Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals.
On Tuesday night, the Knicks took the court in Las Vegas to compete for an NBA title – of sorts. The Knicks met the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas for the third iteration of the NBA Cup, the league’s renamed in-season tournament.
While some players and coaches have praised the new concept, Basketball Hall of Famer and NBA analyst Charles Barkley remains unconvinced.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
College basketball analyst Charles Barkley on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four championship game. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
“I think the Cup thing is kind of embarrassing,” Barkley said during a guest appearance on the “Tom Tolbert Show” during a discussion about the NBA Cup. Barkley also expressed anxiety over the series’ reliance on prize money as a means of forcing players to prioritize regular season games.
COOPER FLAGG MAKES NBA HISTORY WHEN MAVERICS GET TO JAZZ
“I’m disappointed that we have to do a tournament in the season to make these guys more money so they don’t want to do load management.” The NBA has implemented rules to try to discourage teams from sitting otherwise healthy players due to strain management.
A player must now appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for coveted individual awards such as NBA MVP.
A general view of the arena before the Emirates NBA Cup Championship game between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
“But to have to pay these guys extra money to get them to play other games — they should be playing basketball because they’re well compensated to play basketball,” Barkley continued. “Making a tournament in the season to make them extra money, come on, man. It’s a little bit ridiculous.”
By most accounts, the NBA Cup was implemented to increase the excitement level during the league’s 82-game regular season. Commissioner Adam Silver used similar seasonal tournaments in Europe as a model for the NBA’s version.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks during the Emirates NBA Cup Finals press conference at T-Mobile Arena on December 16, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
While TV ratings dropped from the tournament’s first year to its second year in 2024, demand for tickets dropped and Barkley and other commentators voiced criticism, the NBA league office still appears committed to the experiment.
The Knicks defeated the Spurs 124-113 in Tuesday’s NBA Cup championship game.
