The NBA has debuted its 2025-26 Emirates NBA Cup brand campaign, ‘Rise to the Cup,’ which is now streaming across all @NBA social platforms and on the NBA App. Inspired by the intensity of a high-stakes action film, the campaign captures the fierce competition of the tournament through a cinematic lens.
Starring three-time NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards, 2025 NBA All-Star Alperen Sengun, five-time NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, and four-time NBA All-Star Trae Young, the spot follows the players as they abandon their daily routines in pursuit of the Cup. Prime Video’s NBA studio analyst and NBA legend Blake Griffin and studio host Taylor Rooks also join the chase. ‘Rise to the Cup’ will be supported across all channels with complementary creative that comes to life in out-of-home, digital, social, and audio assets.
In the campaign, we see how the chase for the Emirates NBA Cup has become as fierce as it is competitive, with players ready to drop everything for the chance to win it. From Anthony bolting mid-workout to Alperen storming past reporters during interviews, each scene builds toward a desert showdown outside Las Vegas. Young slams the gas pedal as he tears through Atlanta’s streets, Towns dives through the window of a New York bistro, and Blake and Taylor narrate the chaos as all 30 teams barrel forward in a dust-fuelled, high-intensity race. This season’s ‘Rise to the Cup’ campaign is a high-octane metaphor for the tournament itself—where every team starts with a shot, but only the most determined few will make it to Las Vegas.
The race to lift the Emirates NBA Cup begins with a doubleheader on Friday, Oct. 31, on Prime Video, when the Philadelphia 76ers host the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Memphis Grizzlies.
For the Emirates NBA Cup, all 30 teams have been randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2024-25 regular season. Beginning Friday, Oct. 31 and continuing through Friday, Nov. 28, each team will play four designated Group Play games on ‘Cup Nights’—Tuesdays and Fridays. On these ‘Cup Nights,’ the only NBA games scheduled will be Emirates NBA Cup Group Play games.
Eight teams will advance to the Knockout Rounds, which will consist of single-elimination Quarterfinals played in NBA team markets on Tuesday, Dec. 9, and Wednesday, Dec. 10. Winners will progress to single-elimination Semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 13, and then the Championship on Tuesday, Dec. 16, both held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. All games from the Knockout Rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup will be broadcast on Prime Video.