2024-25 NBA In-Season Tournament Courts

[fortunat1]

I thought that the NBA had a great idea with the In-Season Tournament courts last season. The colorful courts achieved their mission, as every game on those courts was unmistakably unique to the In-Season Tournament. While I love the idea, I feel as though there could be many improvements made to its execution while still serving the main purpose of the original courts. My reinterpretation of the courts aims to remain very colorful, be unmistakable to the IST, look more like a traditional basketball court, and look more appealing than last season.

 

I plan to keep 3 main things from last season:

- Colorful courts

- Templated design for all 30 courts

- IST Cup at half-court

 

My notable changes from last year's courts include:

- Basing courts off primary identities instead of city jerseys

- Removing IST Cups from the paint

- Removing the "runway"

- Using less saturated colors for the hardwood, as to make sure colors aren't too bright/offensive to the eyes (this would be dyed hardwood rather than opaque paint like last season)

- A simplified IST Cup at halfcourt

- Creating a contrasting out-of-bounds section

 

I'll be starting the series with the "West Group A" for the upcoming season and moving onto the following groups as the series continues.

 

Minnesota Timberwolves:

 

Los Angeles Clippers:

 

Sacramento Kings:

 

Houston Rockets:

I chose to rebrand the Rockets in this scenario, with the primary identity now revolving around a "dunkstronaut" primary logo rather than the long-dated R-logo. Their new primary colors will be red and maroon, much like what they wore on their 2018/19 Earned jersey, because I love how it looked and it gives them a unique color scheme.

 

Portland Trail Blazers:

 

[GrayJ12]

That dunking astronaut is wonderful. Could see him being friends with the MTV astronaut.

[jbird669]

Those are all fire. 

[fortunat1]

Here's West Group B

 

Oklahoma City Thunder:

I can't decide which of these two versions I like more, since each one has nice color balance and makes for a vibrant court. I think my preference would be decided by what color jersey the Thunder would wear while playing on the court.

 

 

Phoenix Suns:

 

Los Angeles Lakers:

 

Utah Jazz:

 

San Antonio Spurs:

My ideal NBA would see the Spurs use fiesta colors as a part of their primary identity rather than reserving it for alternates. I wanted to reflect that one of the series' more vibrant courts.

 

I realized that my basketball court template does not match that of an actual NBA court (particularly the key, which looks more like what colleges use) so I'll try to update each of my concepts once all 30 teams are posted. I'll begin looking for the proper template soon, but feel free to send an NBA court template my way if you have one, as it'd be much appreciated. C+C appreciated!

[fortunat1]

Here's our last Western Conference teams, Group C.

 

Denver Nuggets:

 

Dallas Mavericks:

 

New Orleans Pelicans:

I opted not to use gold on this court because that'd be too close to the normal shade of hardwood, which defeats the purpose of these courts.

 

Golden State Warriors:

 

Memphis Grizzlies:

This is one of my favorites from the entire series

 

East Group A is up next, C&C appreciated!

[fortunat1]

Here's the first Eastern Conference teams, East Group A!

 

New York Knicks:

 

Orlando Magic:

 

Philadelphia 76ers:

 

Brooklyn Nets:

I opted for alternate logos at half-court rather than one of their roundel-B logos to further separate the IST court from their primary court, which already features two-tone gray hardwood. Additionally, I've had Brooklyn's concept in storage for so long that they replaced the initial logo with a new one. Here's both versions.

 

 

Charlotte Hornets:

[Shonn71]

These are all great and would look great on tv.   Actually, they're all great except the Thunder.  I hate the Thunder ones.  But, to be honest, I hate everything  involving Oklahoma :censored:ty.

 

Go Sonics!

[fortunat1]

Here's East Group B!

 

Milwaukee Bucks:

Much like the Pelicans' gold, I decided to steer away from the color cream in this concept since it's so close to a normal court color. I decided to use the lime green that the Bucks used throughout the late 80s/early 90s since it works as a unique color within the NBA, that also fits right in with the other light-color courts from this series.

 

Indiana Pacers:

 

Miami Heat:

I'm not the biggest fan of how little the Miami Heat use the color orange. I decided to use this court as an opportunity to promote their beautiful orange/yellow to center-stage.

 

Toronto Raptors:

While red and black is alright, I'd love to see the Raptors re-adopt a purple focused brand. While each of my concepts sees them take on a purple and black color scheme, the color balance of each court is different. I couldn't decide which one I liked more, so I'll leave both here for y'all to decide.

 

 

Detroit Pistons:

This is another one with two options. While I'd prefer the Pistons stick to the primary logo, I can totally see them using a court like this as an opportunity to put their 313 logo front and center. I decided to show off each version, one being what I'd like to see and the other being an attempt at what might actually happen if these were real.

 

 

[fortunat1]

The series wraps up with the final group, East Group A.

 

Boston Celtics:

 

Cleveland Cavaliers:

I know I've preached not use the colors gold and cream in this series, but I decided to for the Cavs. Their other secondary color of black didn't pair well with burgundy and I didn't want to revert to a past color scheme, so this is what I came up with.

 

Chicago Bulls:

 

Atlanta Hawks:

 

Washington Wizards:

Our last team is another one with two options I couldn't decided between. One is mostly red, much like their primary jersey, and one is mostly navy, like their logo. Both function well as courts, so the better of the two is a close debate.