Say what you will about the NBA Cup, but an in-season tournament certainly adds intrigue to the early days of the NBA schedule. For this year's edition of the Utah Jazz , a team that has a lot to prove and a steep incline to scale in their first year climbing out of the pit of a rebuild, the NBA Cup provides an opportunity to announce their arrival to the rest of the basketball world.
Like the Indiana Pacers two seasons ago. Like the New York Knicks last season. In its brief lifespan, the NBA Cup has a flawless track record of providing a sneak peek into the season's dangerous dark horses. It's unveiled the contenders who hide in plain sight.
Perhaps the Utah Jazz could make some noise this year and put the NBA on notice. Perhaps not. But a recent post from the Jazz's official social media outlets has me thinking about the in-season tournament, as the team teased new uniforms for the upcoming year.
The Jazz aren't the only franchise titillating their anxiously awaiting fans, either. It's a league-wide reveal, with every other NBA franchise revealing an eerily similar frame that would suggest one of two things: new city uniforms or a celebration of the NBA Cup.
Sure, at a glance, these seem like chalk art left out in the rain -- I suppose I have no hard prove to convince you otherwise if that's the stance you're prepared to defend -- but the sentiment across the basketball world is that the NBA is teasing new uniforms for the NBA Cup.
Each post in this series of teasers is paired with a caption that mentions the word "obsessed" or "obsession". And while it's not out of the realm of possibility that the NBA is preparing for a collaboration with the movie Obsession, which has been a nationwide hit since its release, the public's interest in Obsession peaked months ago, and the NBA Cup is even more months into the future.
In the valley of the offseason, it can be challenging for fans to rally together and get excited over minor developments in the NBA. August is typically the low point of the offseason without the draft, Summer League, or even football to distract fans from just how boring existence can be without basketball on television.
But when a league-wide teaser drops like this, fans will certainly take notice. In some cases, they may even become obsessed.
