NBA

Ranking the best and worse NBA Cup courts for 2024

The league is bringing back colorful courts for the NBA Cup

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NBC Universal, Inc.

The NBA's in-season tournament is back with a new name and a new look.

The league has rebranded the event as the NBA Cup moving forward after holding the tournament for the first time last season.

Along with competitive games, the in-season tournament featured some eye-popping court designs to distinguish those contests from ordinary regular season games.

The NBA is bringing back the colorful courts, but teams got some more freedom with their individual designs. Instead of each court having a stripe from baseline to baseline, organizations got to put their own spin on their NBA Cup courts for the second edition.

With the league officially unveiling the court designs on Thursday, let's run through the top five and bottom five NBA Cup courts for the 2024 event.

Best NBA Cup courts for 2024

Portland Trail Blazers

Blazers NBA Cup court
A view of the Portland Trail Blazers' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

Perfection. Portland embracing its title as the City of Roses in a subtle but stunning way.

Charlotte Hornets

Hornets NBA Cup court
A view of the Charlotte Hornets' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

The Hornets have dabbled with the beehive design on their court, jerseys and logos before. This one might be the best of the bunch.

Brooklyn Nets

Nets NBA Cup court
A view of the Brooklyn Nets' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

Sometimes you'll turn on a Nets game and wonder if you accidentally set your TV to black and white because of their gray court. That said, this sleek design works.

Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers NBA Cup court
A view of the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

The Lakers will try defending their in-season tournament title in style. This design could maybe use a little more contrast, but the skyline and palm trees are quintessential L.A.

Houston Rockets

Rockets NBA Cup court
A view of the Houston Rockets' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

The color will certainly take some getting used to. However, the HAL 9000 look is a cool idea.

Worst NBA Cup courts for 2024

Detroit Pistons

Pistons NBA Cup court
A view of the Detroit Pistons' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

This one is kind of like a fever dream. Also, don't love "Detroit" being spelled upside-down on the nearside out of bounds.

Golden State Warriors

Warriors NBA Cup court
A view of the Golden State Warriors' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

This one was a missed opportunity. Like many teams, the Warriors went with a background logo behind the halfcourt logo, but it could have gone with the Golden Gate Bridge.

Toronto Raptors

Raptors NBA Cup court
A view of the Toronto Raptors' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

The Raptors have A+ Classic Edition jerseys. However, the barbed stripes on the court look like yard lines on a football field.

Denver Nuggets

Nuggets NBA Cup court
A view of the Denver Nuggets' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

"Mile High City" is better than "5280," which has been the mantra on the team's City Edition jerseys, but better doesn't mean good.

Washington Wizards

Wizards NBA Cup court
A view of the Washington Wizards' NBA Cup court for 2024. (NBA)

The color scheme isn't bad, but the part of the logo the team decided to highlight in the background is a head-scratcher.

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