Thursday, November 14, 2024

The NBA Cup courts are back! Here’s a team-by-team look at every design in 2024

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The 2024 Emirates NBA Cup is here and that means the return of one of last season’s more divisive additions: the courts.

They’re stylized. They’re loud. They all feature concentric circles this year for some reason. (The NBA says the circles “represent the three stages of competition” of group play, the quarterfinals, and the semifinals and championship.)

Last year’s courts received some harsh reactions, but the league is bringing them back for another round. While this year’s group is a bit less unruly, there are still some standouts, both good and bad. We’ll take you through all of them with a quick verdict that we can’t promise will be serious.

(All images courtesy of the NBA.)


Yahoo Sports verdict: The ATL stands for Atlanta, you see.


Yahoo Sports verdict: This is a good example of playing to your strengths, though the green and black might still clash for some people.


Yahoo Sports verdict: The subway font at the ends of the court work better than anything in bounds.


Yahoo Sports verdict: The hive patterns really work here.


Yahoo Sports verdict: A larger version of your logo in the background will offend no one, Part 1.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Maybe we should just switch the Cavaliers’ and Nets’ backgrounds.


Yahoo Sports verdict: A city skyline silhouette never fails.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Here, we see the benefits of the Cup trophy actually matching your color scheme.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Needs more logos.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Introducing an alternate logo actually isn’t the worst use of the NBA Cup.


Yahoo Sports verdict: This is what happens when you watch Star Wars the night of a deadline.


Yahoo Sports verdict: There’s really no greater honor for a broadcaster than having your words painted in 25-foot font.


Yahoo Sports verdict: The return of the Clippers script is a welcome development.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Los Angeles, the city where palm trees are as tall as skyscrapers. Also, is it too late for the Celtics to put their championship stars at the bottom?


Yahoo Sports verdict: The Grizzlies have been using that stylized “MEM” for a while and it works decently as both a logo and a geometric pattern.


Yahoo Sports verdict: We would have loved to be in the meeting where they landed on just zooming in on the top right part of their logo.


Yahoo Sports verdict: There’s another court with a giant doe waiting to see how this duel plays out.


Yahoo Sports verdict: This probably would have been better focusing more on the trees, without the “TIMBERWOLVES” across the middle.


Yahoo Sports verdict: A larger version of your logo in the background will offend no one, Part 2.


Yahoo Sports verdict: We said a city skyline silhouette never fails, but it’s kinda weird the Knicks did basically nothing else.


Yahoo Sports verdict: A larger version of your logo in the background will offend no one, Part 3.


Yahoo Sports verdict: We’d give this design three stars, but someone already gave it eight.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Congrats to the Sixers for being the only team to actually incorporate the eye pattern all of these courts have going on.


Yahoo Sports verdict: The PHX stands for Phoenix, you see.


Yahoo Sports verdict: This might be the biggest winner of them all. Roses look good and the whole thing feels cohesive.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Anyone who struggled with geometrical proofs in school is sweating this one.


Yahoo Sports verdict: Yup, we’re in Texas.


Yahoo Sports verdict: A nice use of the jerseys’ subtly jagged pinstripes.


Yahoo Sports verdict: What, you expected something other than mountains from Utah?


Yahoo Sports verdict: As always, we’re not even sure we can say the Wizards tried. (This being a nod to the team’s old logo doesn’t help much.)


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