When the 2025 NBA Finals kicked off between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City, a lot of people on social media were upset with the presentation of it all on ABC.
They didn’t show the National Anthem or starting lineup introductions, and on top of that, there was nothing on the court that signaled it was the NBA Finals.
In the past, there has been a huge Larry O’Brien Trophy at center court and also a decal with the NBA Finals logo somewhere else on the floor. The Los Angeles Lakers notably had these in their battles with the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic, for example. The NBA did away with that in 2014 though in part due to safety reasons with the extra decals potentially creating some slippage.
With the complaints piling up in Game 1, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league will look at it and see if there is a safe way to bring back the trophy and logos, via Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“Maybe there’s a way around it,” he told a small group of reporters during an NBA Cares charity event at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. “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.”
The last two seasons, the league has added the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament that features the semifinals and final game in Las Vegas on a special court that includes logos and decals. But Silver explained why that would be easier to prepare for than the NBA Finals:
“In the case of the Cup, of course, we have the opportunity to plan well in advance and to design a specific neutral court for a Cup championship game,” he said. “And the teams design their own Cup courts. It actually takes a significant amount of time to create new courts in terms of how they’re painted, et cetera.
“One of the reasons we moved away from the logos on the courts is — whether it was perception or reality — there was a sense that maybe the logos added some slipperiness to the court, and it was a change sort of on the court that was coming just at the time of the finals. … Maybe it’s for superstitious reasons or just a sense from teams that we shouldn’t be changing things around such important competition. That’s largely why we stopped putting the logos on the court.”
It seems that Silver and the NBA are putting actual thought in this, which is great for fans. But they must find a safe way to do it if they are going to bring the logos back as the health of the players should not be compromised, especially in the NBA Finals.
Magic Johnson expecting close NBA Finals
Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals was a classic as Tyrese Haliburton hit a game-winner to complete another sensational comeback for the Pacers. Before the series began, Lakers legend Magic Johnson said he was expecting it to be a close one, and so far he has been proven right.
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