Indianapolis is putting the Emirates NBA Cup Championship on the map before the tournament even starts. On Thursday, Oct. 1, five game balls tied to the city’s basketball history will be hidden around town, with each one serving as a ticket back to Hinkle Fieldhouse — and, for the people who find them, a path into the 2026 title game.
| Event | Date/Time | Location/Details |
|---|---|---|
| Scavenger hunt launch | Thursday, Oct. 1, 9 a.m. ET | Oversized NBA Cup trophy unveiled outside Hinkle Fieldhouse |
| Championship ticket sale | Oct. 1, 12 p.m. ET | NBAEvents.com |
| Emirates NBA Cup begins | Friday, Oct. 30 | NBA team markets |
| Group Play ends | Friday, Nov. 27 | Followed by Knockout Rounds |
| Emirates NBA Cup Championship | Friday, Dec. 11 | Hinkle Fieldhouse; exclusive Prime Video stream |
Five balls, five ticket sets
The NBA, Butler University and the City of Indianapolis will stage the hunt after revealing the trophy outside the Fieldhouse. The locations of five Emirates NBA Cup basketballs will be posted through the Instagram accounts of Butler Athletics, Indiana Sports Corp and Visit Indy.
Each ball will be placed at a site connected to Indianapolis basketball and the Championship’s arrival at Hinkle. Anyone who retrieves one and brings it back to the Fieldhouse will receive a set of tickets for the Dec. 11 winner-take-all game.
The event will bring an NBA game into a building that has long carried its own place in the sport’s memory. Hinkle opened in 1928 and was, at that point, the largest arena built specifically for basketball in the United States. It remains the sixth-oldest active college basketball venue and entered the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Hayward sees a fitting stage
Gordon Hayward, the former NBA All-Star now working as Butler’s executive basketball advisor, knows the room well. He played for the Bulldogs at Hinkle after first appearing there as a high school player — a debut he recalled as one in which he “laid an egg.”
“It’s obviously a special building to play in,” Hayward said. “Having a major NBA event at Hinkle and letting more people see the magic of Hinkle Fieldhouse is really cool.”
The gym’s hardwood remains the same floor on which Milan High School, a school with 162 students, beat Muncie Central 32-30 for the 1954 Indiana state championship. That upset became the inspiration for Hoosiers.
Hayward pointed to the range of Indiana basketball names who have played in the building, including John Wooden, Oscar Robertson, George McGinnis, Rick Mount and Bobby Plump. He also remembers the big fans used to cool the gym, summer games featuring professional players and the noise of Butler crowds before the program joined the Big East.
“I love it there. It was one of the biggest reasons I chose Butler,” Hayward said. “There’s a buzz when you’re around it, when you hear basketballs bouncing on that wooden floor. Growing up in Indiana, it’s special.”
A close-up NBA setting
Known by many as Indiana’s Basketball Cathedral, Hinkle has long been central to a state culture Hayward compared with high school football in Texas. He described Indiana basketball as community-based, with towns gathering around Friday and Saturday night games and kids growing up with hoops in their backyards.
“Everybody plays,” Hayward said. “I tell people we play basketball the right way. Youth basketball in Indiana is different from anywhere else I’ve been.”
The 2026 Cup will open Oct. 30, with Group Play running through Nov. 27 before the tournament moves into its Knockout Rounds. The field will then narrow to the Dec. 11 championship game in Indianapolis.
Hayward said the building gives players a chance to experience an NBA event without the distance of a typical modern arena.
“I hope the players feel they’re part of basketball history after they play in Hinkle Fieldhouse,” he said.
