NBA restores Larry O’Brien Trophy midcourt branding for Finals
The National Basketball Association has confirmed that the trophy logo will return to centre court for the first time since 2009, integrating team branding into the official Finals aesthetic.
The National Basketball Association has officially announced that the image of the Larry O’Brien Trophy will be painted at midcourt for the upcoming Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks. The decision marks a significant shift in the league’s visual presentation for the championship round, ending a period where courts featured minimal branding. The announcement was made via a social media post on Sunday, with the league providing no further immediate commentary.
The trophy logo, which last appeared at midcourt during the 2009 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic, will be integrated with the participating teams’ own branding. This design element represents a departure from previous years, where the court lacked specific Finals flair. The script logo for “The Finals” will also be displayed on either side of the court at both the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio and Madison Square Garden in New York.
This return to prominent trophy imagery follows years of fan criticism on social media regarding the lack of distinct visual identity for the championship series. While the league has commissioned alternate courts for events such as NBA Cup games, prompting questions about consistency, the Finals courts have remained largely unbranded in recent seasons. The finals wordmark and logo last appeared on the court during the 2014 Finals between the Spurs and the Miami Heat.
The league introduced the finals wordmark on the court for the title round in 1989, followed by a combined wordmark and trophy design from 2004 to 2009. The prominent trophy logo at midcourt was subsequently used from 2005 through 2009. The current design seeks to balance official league branding with the specific identities of the competing franchises, a new twist for this year’s series.
The Finals series is scheduled to begin on Wednesday in San Antonio. The return of the trophy logo to centre court is expected to address longstanding complaints about the aesthetic consistency of the league’s major events, aligning the Finals presentation more closely with other special competitions within the NBA calendar.
