Game 1 of the NBA Finals was an instant classic, with Tyrese Haliburton hitting a last-second shot to lift the Indiana Pacers over the Oklahoma City Thunder after yet another improbable 4th quarter comeback.
However, suppose you were watching the game on television. In that case, you may have struggled to appreciate the significance of the occasion because the game appeared similar to any other NBA game broadcast by ESPN.
The lack of any real celebration or indication of the NBA Finals (and the consistent underplaying of both teams and focus on market size) had fans up in arms over just how indifferent the entire presentation was on Thursday night. The only thing that really looked and felt special was the gobs of ads plastered everywhere.
Where is the Larry O’Brien trophy? Where is the NBA Finals logo? Where are the jersey patches? Where is a special graphics package? When the NBA Cup in November has more bells and whistles than the NBA Finals, the league, and its broadcast partners clearly have everything backward.
In response to the discontent from basketball fans, Adam Silver addressed reporters at a charity event in Oklahoma City on Friday. He said that the social media buzz reaction had led him to consider bringing back the mid-court trophy logo or other NBA Finals signatures, according to The Athletic.
“Maybe there’s a way around it,” he told a small group of reporters during an NBA Cares charity event at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought all that much about it until I (saw) it (on social media). I’m nostalgic, as well, for certain things. And also, I think for a media-driven culture, whether it’s people watching live or seeing those images on social media, it’s nice when you’re looking back on highlights and they stand out because you see that trophy logo or some other indication that it’s a special event. So, we’ll look at it.”
Silver also spoke out on the reasons why the NBA stopped putting NBA Finals logos on the court, whether it be the Larry O’Brien trophy at center court or other decals. He said that there was a belief that the decals made the court more slippery for the players and that’s one of the main reasons why they have not come back since.
“One of the reasons we moved away from the logos on the courts is — whether it was perception or reality — there was a sense that maybe the logos added some slipperiness to the court, and it was a change sort of on the court that was coming just at the time of the finals. … Maybe it’s for superstitious reasons or just a sense from teams that we shouldn’t be changing things around such important competition. That’s largely why we stopped putting the logos on the court.”
However, this reasoning is also somewhat of a cop-out from Adam Silver, given the technology the league is already utilizing. It’s all great to remove logos in the name of player safety. However, we have also seen the NBA (and the NHL) shift to using CGI advertisements on the basketball court and hockey boards, respectively, to offer more commercial space. During Game 1 of the NBA Finals, that meant a Fantastic 4 logo on both sides of the court to promote the upcoming Disney release.
If there is an issue with the giant trophy decal, could we at least have some memorable NBA Finals CGI logos on the court? And can we bring back the player intros and enjoy the pregame arena atmosphere while we are at it? Can we do something, anything, to make these NBA Finals games feel special and not like they are just a regular season game in January? Maybe if we did, it might actually help the ratings, too.