Many NBA fans dislike the garishly colored special courts for the in-season tournament. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban feels the same way.
Will Mavs’ court be fixed for in-season tournament game? Hopefully not, Mark Cuban says https://t.co/0G29ajVH9m
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) November 16, 2023
The Mavericks had to delay the debut of their own special court last Friday because there was a "manufacturing defect" that made the court not up to NBA standards, having something to do with the paint job. The court features a dark gray stripe down the middle between a duller gray regular color, with the usual depiction of the new "NBA Cup" in the middle.
'Manufacturing Issue' Delays Planned In-Season Tournament Court for Mavericks Gamehttps://t.co/iLTfxzxoyd
— Athletic Business (@AthleticBiz) November 14, 2023
Via @WFBusinessMag
(Note: Deciding on "NBA Cup" as the name for the in-season tournament trophy mainly means that commissioner Adam Silver couldn't find a corporate sponsor for the trophy.)
Cuban doesn't want the court to come back.
"Hopefully it doesn’t get fixed," Cuban told reporters. "Not a fan of the courts, although it was a brilliant marketing idea."
Mavericks star Luka Doncic isn't a fan of the tournament courts, period. He complained after committing nine turnovers on the Denver Nuggets' special court two weeks ago, taking issue with the color scheme.
After the Nov. 3 loss at Denver, on a crazy color-schemed court, Doncic said after committing 9 TOs: “I don't know about the court, man, because the court is the same color as [outside the] out of bounds line. That's the weird part. It's gonna get time to get used to, for sure.”
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) November 15, 2023
Doncic also didn't like the court in New Orleans Tuesday night, when he had eight turnovers, saying that the court was slippery and that the ball "didn't really bounce" in places.
Surprised with all the crying over Luka’s quote on the courts that there wasn’t a clip on Twitter but here it is from @GrantAfseth ‘s YouTube channel which I will link below
— Mavs Film Room (@MavsFilmRoom) November 15, 2023
He answered @townbrad ‘s question on the court and didn’t say it was the reason he played horribly
Feel… pic.twitter.com/DxQX5ewPIy
The courts do seem like a wild variable to introduce to the regular season since they're all different, custom courts. Not only are they often eyesores on television, but the different surfaces are nearly impossible to adapt to. Plus, the Denver court the Mavericks played on had to be hastily repainted when Mavs forward Grant Williams noticed the three-point line was too far back.
Perhaps Doncic is making excuses for poor play, but the owner of his team agrees that the courts aren't for everyone — especially him.
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