After A 16 Year Absence, The NBA Is Officially Brining Back The Giant Larry O'Brien Trophy To The Center Of Their NBA Finals Courts
Scott Cunningham. Getty Images.There have been a lot of changes in the NBA over the last handful of years, some have proven to be not a complete disaster (The Play In), while some are still TBD (The IST). I think most people will agree that one of the changes that never made any goddamn sense was the NBA deciding to change their NBA Finals court by removing the giant Larry O'Brien trophy and Finals script from the courts during the Finals. It was an iconic look, it made those games feel "different", and the NBA's decision to remove them was easily one of their worst ideas of the modern era.
Once we got to the point of having fully painted/colored courts, it made even less sense. If there was this supposed concern about "safety" or whatever, how do you explain the full color courts? Is that not the same shit? This past Finals, the NBA tried to superimpose the Larry O'Brien trophy onto the court, and frankly, it looked like dogshit. Better than nothing? Maybe, but certainly not what the masses were talking about while begging the NBA to bring this look back.
As it turns out, Adam Silver and the league have finally come to their senses
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Hell yes! Finally, Adam Silver & Co are using their brains. While it's a shame it's been on the shelf for the last 16 seasons, at least we're finally back to what NBA Finals courts should be. This not only includes the trophy, but also the script on the side
Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.If you're going to bring back the trophy, you have to go all the way and also bring back the script on the side of the court as well. Now I understand that in 2025, this is a space that networks use for ads and whatnot, but I'm not here to give a shit about that. Put those ads somewhere else and give the people what they want, which is the old look. So kudos to Adam Silver for not going halfway with this decision, but bringing back both elements to the court. Not all of his decisions are great, but this one certainly is.
The entire point of the Finals is that those games/series should feel different from any other basketball game that is played that season. It may not seem like much, but the look/feel of the court plays a huge role in that. You could have watched the 2024 Finals and had no idea if that was for a championship or just a random game in January. All of the "aura" (barf) of the Finals was gone, and for what? Some terrible reasoning that made no sense? So dumb.
I also can't help acknowledge that at the moment, we as fans are on one hell of a nostalgia run. The return of the NBA on NBC last night was incredible and made things feel like the golden era of the league. ESPN is back to putting out real basketball content that actually talks about basketball, just like they did in their heyday. And now we get to go back to the old Finals court?
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If this is all a preview of what's to come this season, we may be in store for one of the greatest NBA seasons ever, both on and off the court.