The NBA Cup is almost here so the league decided to release all of the courts that the teams will play on during the in-season tournament. This tournament, in theory, seems like good fun unless there’s no true reward for winning the trophy. Which unfortunately there isn’t so… I’m not too sure how to feel about it.
I’ll be ranking these 30 courts in four tiers: Ass, meh, good, and I absolutely love these. Take it all with a grain of salt because we only have to stomach some of these courts for a couple of games. Ranking each of the 30 NBA in-season tournament courts.
The Tier of Ass
30: Golden State Warriors
Who poo poo’d on the court in Golden State. Pee Yew.
29: New Orleans Pelicans
They were clearly going for some Mardi Gras feel here and missed by a mile. It looks like 11-year-old me got a hold of the customizable court in 2k.
28: Brooklyn Nets
The Nets court looks far too much like their normal court except the NBA Cup is behind their logo. Seems like they had an assigment due at midnight and it was 11:59 p.m.
27: Los Angeles Lakers
See above what I wrote about the Brooklyn Nets.
26: Toronto Raptors
Toronto went with the OVO feel for Drake and missed by quite a bit. No red at all makes me think they didn’t have any creatives in the room.
25: Orlando Magic
Orlando has some of the best colors and jerseys when they use any iteration of the 90s joints. They didn’t do anything right with this court.
24: Memphis Grizzlies
When did the Memphis Grizzlies add bronze to their logo?
23: Detroit Pistons
I know they share an arena with the Red Wings, but this absolutely does nothing for me.
22: Denver Nuggets
I’m completely over the Mile High thing going on in Denver. The jerseys stink too.
21: Dallas Mavericks
I think the court will look good with their leaked City Edition jerseys but this court is far too bland.
The Tier of Meh
20: Chicago Bulls
We’re all seeing red. This would be in the good tier if the logo looked better.
19: Miami Heat
Pretty much copy and paste what I said for the Bulls. The gray middle is fine.
18: Philadelphia 76ers
Are y’all starting to sense a theme in this category yet?
17: Sacramento Kings
The throwback logo bumps this one up in the tier of meh. I’m a sucker for throwback logos.
16: Oklahoma City Thunder
OKC has some of the best colors a team in any sport can use and they continually miss. This had so much potential and yet, meh.
15: Washington Wizards
The pop of teal? Light green? I’m not sure, I could be color blind. It’s fine.
14: Milwaukee Bucks
This was dangerously close to being in the good tier, but alas, execution was poor. The off green throughout the middle and the regular hardwood surrounding it is not great.
13: San Antonio Spurs
San Antonio has such great colors to play with using their throwback combinations. This, once again, could be one of the best courts, but they missed.
12: Los Angeles Clippers
Good colors, and the logo is decent. All signs point towards it being in the next tier, but there’s just something not there for me.
The Tier of Good
11: Charlotte Hornets
The hive is alive fires me up. Charlotte made good use of some of their colors, the only thing missing is a touch of purple.
10: Indiana Pacers
Middle school me would’ve made this exact court in NBA 2k. I love everything about this court.
9: Minnesota Timberwolves
Baby blue automatically elevates your ranking by default. Simple yet pristine.
8: Portland Trail Blazers
The flannel pattern on Rip City is a nice touch. Shoutout to all the lumberjacks.
7: Boston Celtics
Boston’s vintage stuff just does it for me, I’m not sure why. The dark green is a nice refresh even though their jerseys may look piss colored.
6: Atlanta Hawks
Baby blue and gold. Count me in for the magic city.
5: Phoenix Suns
I’m an absolute sucker for anything to do with “The Valley” stuff from the Suns. The purple court is also very 2k-esque, but it’s nice.
4: Houston Rockets
Congratulations to the Houston Rockets for winning the red dominate NBA Cup court award!
The Tier of I Absolutely Love These
3: Cleveland Cavaliers
The Land stuff from Cleveland has been objectively bad in recent years, but this court rules.
2: New York Knicks
Yes. Absolutely, yes. This court is awesome, it’s going to make our eyes bleed while watching TV with all the orange. Add more orange.
1: Utah Jazz
I hate that the Utah Jazz won this award for best court, but I’m an objective big J journalist. Sorry for being unbiased.
Ranking each of the 30 NBA in-season tournament courts was an absolute doozy, and I can’t wait to watch some bad basketball on some of these bad courts.
