NBA world reacts to 'colorful' in-season tournament courts
The idea of an in-season NBA tournament has elicited mixed reactions from the basketball world. However, upon the tournament's debut on Friday, nearly everyone agreed that the league embraced color a little too much when designing each team's courts.
The consensus opinion was that the courts are a bit hard to look at, which is a fair criticism considering more than half the hardwoods feature, for the most part, the brightest color home teams have to offer.
While the court mock-ups spotlighted the burst of color, seeing was believing for most.
Meanwhile, others, like former guard J.J. Redick, took the opportunity to take a playful shot at a former employer. Once a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, Redick came away "confused" after his first look at their court for the in-season tourney.
"The first court I saw was the Clippers court and there was a trophy at half-court," Redick said during the Milwaukee Bucks vs. New York Knicks matchup on ESPN. "And I was like, 'Well, the Clippers never won the trophy.'"
Between basketball fans and media alike, the vast majority had an unfavorable opinion of the in-season tournament courts. Yet, there was a small portion of objective basketball people brave enough to defend the eyesores.
Understandably, the NBA would want to separate the in-season tournament from the regular season in every way possible. So, changing up the courts for the virtually stake-less get-together between the league's 30 teams is a smart way of doing that. Heck, even featuring a team's most prominent color wasn't the worst idea.
However, as with all good plans, execution is paramount. The effort was there, but it's possible the NBA didn't properly think things through before exposing viewers' eyes to a rainbow explosion.
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