Responding to online complaints about the plain nature of the court for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, commissioner Adam Silver said the league office will have discussions this summer about bringing back the Larry O’Brien Trophy logo, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. The Paycom Center floor on Thursday was indistinguishable from a regular season game, lacking the trophy and the distinctive NBA Finals logo that used to be a tradition.
Amick explains that the league stopped using the trophy logo in 2014 in response to complaints about “slipperiness” on the courts. The Cavaliers had a small version of the trophy in the corner of their home court in 2017, and a much larger logo with a YouTube sponsorship was featured on the court during the 2020 Finals at the bubble in Orlando.
Silver is sympathetic toward fans who want the court for the league’s biggest event to have a special look.
“Maybe there’s a way around it,” he said. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought all that much about it until I (saw) it (on social media). I’m nostalgic, as well, for certain things. And also, I think for a media-driven culture, whether it’s people watching live or seeing those images on social media, it’s nice when you’re looking back on highlights and they stand out because you see that trophy logo or some other indication that it’s a special event. So, we’ll look at it.”
There’s more on the NBA Finals as the series gets set to resume Sunday night:
- Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has a long-running friendship and rivalry with Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, per Tim Reyonolds of the Associated Press. They grew up playing basketball together, and they’re both members of Canada’s national team. Nembhard was SGA’s primary defender in Game 1, and even though the reigning MVP finished with 38 points, he admits that he had to work hard for them. “He’s a competitor. He’s a winner,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Nembhard. “Plays the game the right way on both ends of the floor. Really good player. Yeah, he’s a winner for sure. No doubt.”
- The Thunder have been exceptional after losses throughout the regular season and playoffs, so the Pacers will have a huge challenge in Game 2, Reynolds adds in a separate story. Oklahoma City has a 17-2 record in the next game coming off a defeat with an average margin of victory of 17.5 points. “You don’t want to be reactive to the last game because then you can be too high after wins, you can be too low after losses,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault said. “We just get ourselves to neutral. Understand every game is different, every game is unwritten. You go out there, the ball goes up in the air, and the team that competes better on that night wins.”
- John Hollinger of The Athletic analyzes several key plays from the series opener to understand how Indiana was able to erase a 15-point fourth quarter deficit.
Changing the color of the entire floor from traditional wood to disgusting grey = ok
Adding a tasteful championship cup to the floor: nah
They rather make the dumb In season tourney look more meaningful…since that is Silver’s baby.
I don’t even remember who won that pointless tourney.
Who cares what they say on social media. Last place I look for input on something as important as the floor representing the NBA Finals. You ask the players young and old. They should donit up. Only happens once a year.
Nembhard got torched for 38. Wasn’t all on him still SHA had a big game. Well Nembhard made the most important stop of all. Gave the ball back to Pacers. And set up Haliburton heroics. There is a strong Canadian influence in these Finals. Both teams have major players who are Canadian …..
Still can’t believe Thunder lost that game.
SGA: 40 mins 14-30 FG 7-8 FT 38 PT in a loss + is Canadian…he not Him.
Give Curry 30 FG ATT and he’ll get you 60 points minimum. He is him.
Its the NBA Finals and the stars aren’t even playing 40 minutes….smh grow up, respect the Finals, its time to play like 6-7 players tops.
Curry isn’t playing in the finals. Curry has to play that many minutes because without his the Warriors are the A’s of basketball. Truth.
I don’t necessarily disagree! We needed KD, not Jimmy. No offense without Curry = A’s of NBA.
Buyers remorse at its finest. Now that playoff Jimmy didnt materialize, its “We needed KD, not Jimmy” narrative. You really cant with these Warriors fans like Davey J and aristotle.
Playoff Jimmy was created by ESPN and Heat fans lol
No real fan cares about court art. I remember the weird groupthink of everyone wearing a boring white or blue shirt. Or OKC’s idiotic white *and* blue sections so half the fans looked like Wolves fans.
The NBA has bigger issues than what the floor looks like. Who cares?
Adam Silver, obvs
The 3 worst refs got assigned to tonight’s game, Zarba, Taylor, and Williams.
OKC in a rout.
Last game they were not calling fouls and let them play so let’s see if they call fouls this game. Can’t complain because last game neither team was getting calls.
I wouldnt mind if they jazzed up the player intros.
In 90s it was legendary to hear pippen & jordans names announced… you got chills during those intros, even when it was lesser known players
The 04 Piston intros were classic as well
Custom designs for each finals team would be nice. More of a Superbowl vibe.