The NBA heard the complaints about the design (or lack thereof) of the NBA Finals court. But the league’s attempt to appease the fans was half-hearted at best.
There was little to critique about the action on the court during Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Indiana Pacers pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Tyrese Haliburton game-winner will be included in Finals highlight reels for years to come.
However, several fans had gripes bout the NBA’s presentation of the contest. Gone was the iconic center-court logo featuring the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The players also did not have NBA Finals logo patches stitched into their jerseys. To many of the viewers watching from home, the whole thing had the energy of a regular season affair.
On Sunday, the league tried to add some NBA Finals flavor to the game’s presentation. They added a couple of CGI Larry O’Brien Trophy logos on the court.
However, the small change did not sit well with fans at all.
Everyone: “We want the Trophy Logo back at midcourt for the NBA Finals”
— BetMGM 🦁 (@BetMGM) June 9, 2025
The NBA: “Best we can do is two terrible CGI trophies” pic.twitter.com/dkNuKee57o
Lmaoo Adam silver said “here damn” and put a cgi trophy logo on the finals court 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/p8XefdCW9h
— ᴶᴼЯᴰᴬᴺ | グラプス愛好家 (@BreatheViolence) June 9, 2025
The @nba & Adam Silver saw the tweets about putting/bring back the Larry O Brien trophy on the court last game & now they see CGI’ed the trophy on court with the YouTube logo….
— Brandon Bryant (@brandonbryanttv) June 9, 2025
They ‘really’ tried but it’s a cheap gfx look. This STILL ain’t it. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/fB7nQM8H9X
Adam silver really saw the tweets and CGI’d a 720p image of the trophy lmfao
— g (@freewave3) June 9, 2025
The league could not even bother to put actual trophy decals on the court. Even the virtual trophies added by the production crew looked like something straight out of a low-budget sci-fi movie.
Not even Mike Breen has been spared from criticism. Fans also complained about the legendary announcer’s call of Haliburton’s last-second shot in Game 1.
