Explaining the NBA Rule Changes for 2024-25 Season, Including NBA Cup Bracket Format
October 22, 2024
The 2024-25 NBA season kicks off on Tuesday night with the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics hosting the New York Knicks.
While some changes are expected in the standings compared to last season, there are not many adjustments to the rules for the new campaign.
The NBA Cup will highlight the first third of the season. The second installment of the in-season tournament returns with the same format as last year's event won by the Los Angeles Lakers.
2024-25 Rule Changes
The major rule change for this season involves replay on out-of-bounds reviews.
If an out-of-bounds review is triggered by a coach's challenge, the officials can confer with the video review center to see if a foul occurred close to the out-of-bounds violation.
The NBA outlined three factors that would be considered in this new rule when it announced it back in September.
Reviews will consider whether the players involved in the uncalled foul are the same or different players than the ones involved in the out-of-bounds violation under review, the distance between the uncalled foul and the out-of-bounds violation under review and the time elapsed between the uncalled foul and the out-of-bounds violation under review.
NBA Cup Format
The NBA Cup will have a similar format to its debut last season.
The 30 NBA teams were drawn into six groups of five. There are three groups per conference. All group-stage games will be played on designated nights, starting with November 12.
Eight teams will emerge from the group stage to play in the knockout round.
All six group winners will automatically advance to the knockout round. The other two quarterfinalists will be one wild-card team from each conference.
The second-place team with the best record in each conference will complete the final eight.
The single-elimination quarterfinals will be played on December 10 and 11 at the home arena of the higher seed.
Las Vegas plays host to the semifinals on December 14 and the championship game on December 17.