How NBA Cup Winners Finished Their Seasons

What the NBA Cup winners did next

The NBA’s in-season championship does not apply toward the 82-game ledger entering its title game, but it can and does influence narratives and rotations. The original 2023-24 Lakers rode MVP runner-up LeBron James to the Cup, just nudging Phoenix from a first-round series while sweeping New Orleans and defeating Indiana in the finals as James posted averages of 26.4 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists. The pattern of “favorite wins” was repeated in 2024-25, when top-seeded Milwaukee upended Oklahoma City for the trophy behind a line of 26-19-10 from Giannis Antetokounmpo, after rolling over Orlando and Atlanta.

How the Lakers (2023-24) and Bucks (2024-25) finished

Pre-Cup, the Lakers were 14-9 with 113.1 points for and 112.0 against (plus-1. 1). They subsequently went 33-26, increasing their offensive output to 119.9 but allowing 118.3 (plus-1. 6), finishing 47-35. They won the Play-In at New Orleans, then lost, 4-1 to Denver; the result brought in JJ Redick and sent Darvin Ham packing. Milwaukee started its Cup at 14-11 (113.3/111.9; plus-1. 4) and even better post-Cup to 35-23 (116.4/113.0; plus-3. 4 and ended the year 49-34, as the East’s 5-seed. The Bucks lost in five to the eventual champion Indiana; Damian Lillard then tore his left Achilles in Game 4, and a summer reset ensued with additions of Myles Turner and Gary Harris Jr. and departures of Lillard, Brook Lopez, Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton.