The digital logos projected onto Oklahoma City’s home court during Game 2 of the NBA Finals became a distracting eyesore for fans trying to watch the Thunder and visiting Indiana Pacers.
At the heart of the issue is the NBA’s years-old decision to remove the Larry O’Brien Trophy and NBA Finals logo decals from the court during the annual best-of-seven championship series. Only this year, with fans already questioning the decals’ absence, the NBA tried replacing them with digital projections in Game 2.
The resulting display irritated fans considerably.
Sometimes the two Larry O’Brien Trophy projections would be delayed after replays and randomly reappear at peculiar moments. At other points, the digital images would be projected over players as they ran down the court.
With the Thunder logo at midcourt, the floor art for Sunday’s Game 2 also included a rotation of digital graphics as well as on-court advertisements for Paycom, YouTubeTV sideline and Michelob Ultra.
‘This floor is a NASCAR hood,’ SiriusXM’s Rob Perez joked on X.
Somehow the real Thunder flag managed to pass under the projected O’Brien Trophy logos
Two low-res images of the Larry O’Brien Trophy are seen during Game 2 of the NBA Finals
The old NBA Finals logo also made an appearance, albeit alongside an ad for YouTubeTV
Back in 2008, the NBA used on-court decals of the Larry O’Brien Trophy during the NBA Finals
Fans were left disgusted, not just at the chaotic scramble of logos, but also at the poor image quality of the projections, some of which cut in and out.
‘This is worst (sic) than just having nothing…literally the most minimal effort,’ one fan wrote.
‘FANS: The NBA Finals are supposed to be special. You could at least put the logo back on the court,’ popular commenter Mike Beauvais wrote. ‘NBA: Here are the terribly low-res digital Larry O’Brien Trophies superimposed on the court like you wanted. They’re glitchy and disappear if we cut back to them too quickly.’
Many other fans pointed out that the NBA managed intricate court designs for the in-season tournament, but appear relegated to using digital projections for ABC’s Finals broadcasts.
‘Why do we get this court for the lame a** cup games, yet we don’t get any good courts for the Finals? no Finals logo @nba make it make sense. the ads all over the place have diminished entertainment value.’
