The Los Angeles Lakers debuted their 2025 Emirates NBA Cup court during Tuesday night’s win over the L.A. Clippers, although there were some issues.
Throughout the course of the game, a number of players slipped and fell on the court. Luka Doncic shed some light on the conditions of court after the win, believing it was too dangerous to play on and hoping it would get fixed before Friday night’s NBA Cup game against the Dallas Mavericks.
It appears Doncic’s complaints were heard as the Lakers will be using their normal court against the Mavericks while the NBA Cup one gets sent away to be repaired, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
The Lakers will not play on the NBA Cup court tonight when they host the Mavericks, according to the team. Techs from the league's court vendor determined that the court is unplayable for tonight. It will be sent back to the vendor for repairs.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 28, 2025
Player safety should be the top priority for the NBA, so it’s good to see them taking this seriously and not playing on the court against Dallas.
Rui Hachimura also expressed how happy about that he is, echoing Doncic that the NBA Cup court was too slippery:
“That was bad. … I felt it right away when I was warming up, it just felt weird. It was just like oily, slippery. Everybody was literally on the floor like every second… We’re going to do the normal court [tonight]. So, it will be fine.”
The Lakers have already advanced to the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup and if they beat the Mavericks, they will host a quarterfinal game in the coming weeks. The hope is that their court gets fixed by then but if not, the Lakers could potentially play on their normal one again in that game.
Luka Doncic excited to compete for first NBA Cup with Lakers
Luka Doncic never reached the knockout round of the Emirates NBA Cup in two years with the Mavericks so he is excited to get the opportunity this year in his first full season with the Lakers.
“I mean, obviously, I’ll accept money. That’s easy, but I never got more than, I think I never got past the group stage,” he admitted. “So, something new for me. I played in Spain, something like this. So, I like it. Just the courts, please.”
As Doncic stated, money is on the line for each round, giving the Lakers a little extra motivation to keep winning.
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