Rankings the NBA Cup tournament courts in 2024 from worst to 'Please delete this"
OK, gang. I've got to be real with you here. This is an official ranking of the courts teams will be playing on for the 2024 NBA Cup.
It's a ranking in the sense that, yes, every court for every team is ranked in order, as you can see below. But I've got to be honest: The order didn't actually matter as much in my mind while ranking these because, well, they all stink.
Some are objectively better than others. They resemble normal courts instead of an interdimensional gateway. Seriously. What's with having the Target logo in the middle of all these courts? What are we doing here? That's a genuine question.
THE CITY JERSEYS ARE BETTER: You can read our full ranking of the NBA's city jerseys here.
Anyway, here are the rankings. Please, enjoy them as much as you can. Or don't. Nobody can blame you either way.
30. Atlanta Hawks
OK. Let's start with the Hawks. This one at least resembles a regular basketball court a bit. Just a tiny bit. That yellow will probably make my eyes bleed on television, but whatever. At least the Hawks' color scheme is still nice.
29. Denver Nuggets
I'd say the same thing about the Nuggets here. This isn't good. But, at the very least, it looks like a basketball court. I can appreciate that. What I cannot appreciate, however, is the Nuggets' organization still bombarding us with the whole elevation thing. Enough. We don't care.
Shoutout Dikembe Mutombo, though.
28. Cleveland Cavaliers
Not terrible! That's a lot of wine in the middle, sure. I guess they took the whole "Cup runneth over" thing seriously. But this is definitely one of the better courts you'll see today. Relatively speaking, anyway.
27. Chicago Bulls
Ok. Remember when I said these courts look like a Target logo? I don't know how you can look at this court and simply not see a Target logo. It's ridiculous.
26. Portland Trail Blazers
Having roses in the background of this court only to bog them down by this yucky grayscale coloring is a crime against humanity.
25. Charlotte Hornets
I get why the Hornets would go with the whole honeycomb look here. Obviously, they're the Hornets.
But let's be real — this doesn't look great on a basketball court. It just looks freaky. I feel sorry for those of you with aichmophobia. Google that if you don't know what it is.
24. Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers court doesn't look special at all, which is a travesty considering that the Lakers won this whole cup last season anyway. Shouldn't they get some sort of special logo or something here? I mean, sheesh.
23. Brooklyn Nets
This court looks better than Brooklyn's season is about to go. I should also note that this court doesn't look very good at all. Consider that when doing your over/unders this year, folks.
22. Orlando Magic
When people say the Lakers won a Mickey Mouse championship in the NBA Bubble, this is what I imagine the court looked like in that hypothetical scenario. Obviously, it didn't. And this is the Magic's court. But put a pair of Mickey Mouse ears in the middle of this and tell me it doesn't feel like something you'd see on a Disney Channel Original. You can't.
21. San Antonio Spurs
It's the Spurs. It's boring. Next.
20. Memphis Grizzlies
What's up with all this grey, man? It makes the courts look so bland. It'd be one thing if Memphis prominently displayed the color in its logo, but it really doesn't. What are we doing here?
19. Phoenix Suns
Whatever games are scheduled on Halloween this year should be played on this court. Just turn the center circle into a Jack-O-Lantern and we're cooking with gas.
18. Miami Heat
First of all, I completely forgot that this arena was named the Kaseya Center now. Shoutout to this court for reminding me of that. Also, subtle reminder to never trust the funny money. You know the vibes.
Also, one more thing: When did this become Pat Riley Court? You know what? Nevermind. I'm asking too many questions.
17. Philadelphia 76ers
Is this a basketball court or is it a design for a beer can? Can't tell the difference. Sorry, 76ers fans. That's rude of me.
16. Dallas Mavericks
I didn't know the Dallas city skyline was poppin' enough to be put on a basketball court like this. I'm not going to lie to you guys: I've never once thought about what that might look like. Seems very forgettable.
15. Houston Rockets
I think we're supposed to be blasting off here on this court because, obviously, it was made for the Rockets. But, forgive me, because it feels like we're falling into the abyss.
14. New York Knicks
The good thing about this court is that it seems, the Knicks have finally given up on the whole double-vision thing! The bad thing about this court is everything else.
At least they used an actual popular skyline in the background this time, though.
13. Minnesota Timberwolves
Imagine vomiting on a beautiful tapestry of a wintery forest. That's what this court looks like. Who thought this green was a good idea?
12. Toronto Raptors
I know the Raptors are bringing back the whole 90s look this year with the purple jerseys, but this looks ridiculous.
11. Boston Celtics
The Celtics' court in general is already unique enough. The parquet floors are great. Making the parquet bigger and turning it green, though? Not great. This is just so over the top and ridiculous.
10. Indiana Pacers
I wouldn't dare disrespect Bobby "Slick" Leonard and the legend that he is. Shoutout to the Pacers for including his words on the court. But, yeah. I'll save the rest of my thoughts on this one.
9. Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are debuting the most fun arena in the NBA this season and this is the best the league could come up with for their court? The lack of creativity is incredible to me. It also doesn't help that this court is basically the same as the Pelicans, which...
8. New Orleans Pelicans
Has got to be the most boring design choice ever. At least we're away from the nasty green colors New Orleans was using last season. But, now, we've got the creepy pelican as the background on the floor. Honestly, can we finally just rebrand this thing?
7. Sacramento Kings
More grey, huh? What a shame. The Kings are better than this. Chris Webber didn't sacrifice his perfect hairline for the Kings to deviate so far way from their original color scheme. This is gross.
6. Golden State Warriors
When I first looked at this logo I had no idea it was for the Warriors. Whose logo did I think it was? I'm not completely sure. It looks like something you'd create for an expansion team on NBA 2K. The Wilmington Wallabees or something. Definitely not the Golden State Warriors.
5. Utah Jazz
This is unspeakably boring, which is extremely disappointing considering that the Jazz are bringing back their purple mountain color scheme for their jerseys this season. Somehow, this feels perfectly Utah.
4. Milwaukee Bucks
I know those are supposed to be deer antlers popping up from the baselines on this Bucks court there, but when you squint your eyes really hard they look kind of like onions. Do it! Seriously. Don't they look onion-y? No? I've just lost my mind this far down the list? OK. Got it.
Thanks for making it this far, though.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
There's so much going on with this court between the Thunder logo in the center and in the background and all the different variations of blue here. We need the Thunder to just come up with an image and stick to it.
2. Detroit Pistons
There are about seven basketballs on the Pistons court here which, coincidentally, will be the same spot they land in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Sorry. That was mean. But, hey, Pistons fans. Look on the bright side. At least it won't be No. 5 again!
1. Washington Wizards
I hope the Wizards put as much effort into this season as they did into this court. Cooper Flagg, welcome to DC!
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Rankings the NBA Cup tournament courts in 2024 from worst to 'Please delete this"