1. A week or so after I
slotted Cleveland last in my court design rankings, the Cavaliers unveiled an ambitious redesign:
Here’s the old one:
As you can see, there are a ton of changes. The addition of the Cleveland skyline silhouette is a boundary-pushing move that scores some points for creativity and balls.
The other changes are just as visually impactful. The Cavs have gone with a two-toned wood model; the area inside the 3-point arc is a darker shade than the middle of the court. I’m generally against this style of two-toning, which swept the league about a half-decade ago, but for reasons I don’t really understand, I prefer the darker shade where the Cavs have it — inside the arc.
They’ve shaded the sidelines and baselines in navy blue, and added a nifty little map of Ohio between the “All for One” and “One for All” along the near sideline — a nice touch.
And … I still hate it. I have some sort of visceral distaste for the giant central “C” logo, the largest center-court logo in the league in terms of square footage. I enjoy drinking wine, but the color has never worked on a large scale. Wine and navy make for an awkward, dark, and busy blend. I’ll also miss the little C’s with swords through them the Cavs had in two corners.
The skyline is cool, but it doesn’t work as well as it should. It’s hard to see on TV, and the Cavs and the league are working on some last-minute tweaks to remedy that. There were rumors the Cavs would have to scrap the new court altogether, but the revised version should be ready for opening night, per several sources.
The Cleveland skyline might not be distinctive enough for this to really leap out. There is no Space Needle or Empire State Building.
Robbins Sports Surfaces, which designed the floor along with the Cavs’ entertainment folks, declined to comment, citing confidentiality agreements that don’t lift until the regular season tips. The Cavs also declined to make their in-house design minds available for interviews.
This is not a knock on Robbins, by the way. They’ve designed a hefty chunk of the NBA’s courts, including the new Charlotte court, which might ascend to the top spot in Grantland’s rankings once we let it sink in for a full season. We’re in a great period of court design, and someone has to rank 30th.
That said, I’m open to moving the Cavs up. We have to see how the final version looks on TV, and the skyline is an idea worth trying. With the 30th spot up in the air, we can create a bottom five and re-sort it once we see and absorb the revised Cleveland court: Cleveland, Houston, Phoenix, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota.
Those are the five worst courts in the NBA, in some order. The only one for which I received any aggressive pushback is the Suns’ black-and-orange Halloween-style court. Some people really like that sucker. It is probably my least favorite Phoenix court ever. I cannot abide by the absence of purple-blue.
I heard convincing arguments for the Rockets, Wolves, and Thunder to hold down the no. 30 spot. They’re all worthy candidates. Cleveland’s redesign has jumbled the bottom five for now, but the rankings proceed as ordered from there — with one exception.
2. I hinted in those rankings that the Pelicans had a gutsy new court design they were rushing to get approved for this season, and plopped them into the no. 19 spot as a placeholder. They finished the job and revealed the new look last week:
Boom. There is nothing like that in the NBA, and I’m not sure there ever has been. It is a courageous choice.
It reminds me a bit about the Bucks court, in that it is so wild, it’s going to take a few viewings before I can make a final conclusion. I’m not crazy about the team’s main pelican logo, and there are now three giant versions of it taking up half the court — and four more mini-logos along the baselines. The navy-ish shade is sort of boring, especially considering the pizzazz of this city and the team’s history of using more vivid teals and golds.
The court overall is interesting. I like it. In time, I might love it. But for now, it can go no higher than Denver at no. 15. The Nuggets have a nice court; that it ranks as league-average on this list shows how strong the NBA’s overall court design is now.
So that would make the updated rankings go like this:
Bottom Five in Some Order:
• Cavaliers
• Thunder
• Suns
• Rockets
• Timberwolves
25. Jazz
24. Heat
23. Mavericks
22. Spurs
21. Clippers
20. Wizards
19. Bucks
18. Grizzlies
17. Kings
16. Pelicans
15. Nuggets
14. Pistons
13. Pacers
12. Knicks
11. Magic
10. Raptors
9. Hawks
8. Blazers
7. Warriors
6. Sixers
5. Bulls
4. Nets
3. Hornets
2. Celtics
1. Lakers
.
