Ranking All 30 NBA In-Season Tournament Courts for 2024 NBA Cup
The NBA’s in-season tournament returns for its second rendition on November 12, now renamed as the Emirates NBA Cup. One year after its initial debut, the tournament found success because of the extra competitive atmosphere for the players and their highly-discussed eccentric-looking courts.
The in-season tournament action begins on Tuesday November 12, with 16 teams in action.
As the new courts have been released for 2024, we’ll rank all 30 of the special NBA in-season tournament court designs for every team below.
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What Is The Emirates NBA Cup?
The Emirates NBA Cup is the NBA’s in-season tournament. It was introduced last year just as the NBA In-Season Tournament. The 15 teams in each conference are divided into five groups based on their win-loss record from the 2023-24 season. Each team will play two games at home and two on the road in round-robin play in their group.
NBA Cup Group Play games will take place on Tuesdays and Fridays starting November 12 with group play ending on December 3. The top teams in each group automatically advance to the quarterfinals. The fourth team in each conference will be a wild card team that has the best record in Group Play games and finished second in its group.
After the first tiebreaker of head-to-head, point differential is the second tiebreaker. This means you will see teams running up the score as much as possible or even leaving their starters in because each point matters.
The quarterfinals of the NBA Cup begin on December 10 and 11. T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will once again play host to the NBA Cup Semifinals and Finals, which will take place on December 14 and 17, respectively.
Learn more about the 2024 NBA Cup schedule, TV games, and bracket here.
2024 Emirates NBA Cup Court Design Rankings
Last year’s NBA Cup courts brought tons of discussion all over social media for people who loved or hated them. NBA Cup courts were painted all over and brought a bold look to traditional basketball hardwood.
The courts had a “runway”-like design going through the middle of the floor and some teams decided to go bold with their colors choosing to go very bright with highlighter-like colors like the Indiana Pacers.
Below we’ll rank this year’s NBA Cup Courts from 30 to 1 to determine who has the best in-season tournament court this year.
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#30: Utah Jazz In-Season Tournament Court
Gray court, black out-of-bounds, and white center court logo all make for a lifeless court for a team that could have used one of its team colors, purple, in some capacity for a little more pop.
#29: Sacramento Kings In-Season Tournament Court
Lifeless like Utah’s, but the hint of purple on the sidelines saves the Kings’ NBA Cup court design from being dead last.
#28: Miami Heat In-Season Tournament Court
The yellow isn’t as loud as other teams, which keeps it similar to original hardwood, but this court just has no “wow factor”.
27: Golden State Warriors In-Season Tournament Court
A missed opportunity for the Warriors who just run with gray and the “W” overlay on the NBA Cup, the outer blue saves it from being much lower though.
#26: Phoenix Suns In-Season Tournament Court
Too much orange plus little to no incorporation of purple or their gradient at all — a missed opportunity for the Suns NBA Cup court.
#25: Brooklyn Nets In-Season Tournament Court
A team who can “get away” with a gray court because their primary colors are black and white, but the background is severely lacking. The pattern is more interesting than other gray courts, however.
#24: Detroit Pistons In-Season Tournament Court
Detroit players don’t need even more reminders that they play for the Pistons. This NBA Cup court design looks messy and random.
#23: Memphis Grizzlies In-Season Tournament Court
Another team who incorporated blue outside of the court, but the “MEM” pattern all over the sidelines and on the court put it a few notches above Golden State and one spot above Brooklyn.
#22: Denver Nuggets In-Season Tournament Court
The highlighter yellow court is much too bright, and the red outer portion just doesn’t seem to match. This one could be tough to watch on TV.
#21: New York Knicks In-Season Tournament Court
The highlighter orange is definitely over the top and rough on the eyes, but the New York skyline silhouette is the only thing saving it from being even lower. It’s a nice touch to the NBA Cup Court for the Knicks.
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#20: Boston Celtics In-Season Tournament Court
A nice homage to Bill Russell on the sideline, but so many lines on the floor make the Celtics’ NBA Cup court design look clunky.
#19: Atlanta Hawks In-Season Tournament Court
Queue Wiz Khalifa. It’s not the best highlighter yellow court, but the black outer portion provides a nice contrast for the Hawks NBA Cup Court design.
#18: Indiana Pacers In-Season Tournament Court
The Pacers did not “Bring the BOOM” with this court, despite the background design on their NBA Cup court design.
#17: Philadelphia 76ers In-Season Tournament Court
Not the top all-blue court design, but the nod to the stars in their logo is nice. However, similarly to others around it, this NBA Cup court design is not horrendous, but not amazing.
#16: Los Angeles Clippers In-Season Tournament Court
The Clippers’ NBA Cup court design is not awful, but it’s not amazing. It really just doesn’t stand out or do anything special. At least Clippers fans have the Intuit Dome.
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#15: New Orleans Pelicans In-Season Tournament Court
Similar to the Sixers and Clippers, not horrendous but not amazing, but an upgrade from last year’s and the giant pelican trumps the Clippers script logo.
#14: San Antonio Spurs In-Season Tournament Court
Going with a darker shade on the court is a plus, even with the team’s color palette. Plus the spur right where San Antonio is located in Texas gives them a more unique design than some of the others lower on the rankings. It’s a pretty NBA Cup court — we’re getting to the better ones.
#13: Houston Rockets In-Season Tournament Court
The Rockets are the first of two teams rocking a red and black NBA Cup court design. This would be much higher if this on-court design was just more than lines.
#12: Orlando Magic In-Season Tournament Court
Sure, it’s gray, but the stars all over and the blue outside give this the pop necessary to be the top gray court in the NBA Cup.
#11: Minnesota Timberwolves In-Season Tournament Court
The forest silhouette on the Timberwolves NBA Cup court was well done, but the various tones of green are a bit off-putting and don’t totally align with the team’s color palette.
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#10: Oklahoma City Thunder In-Season Tournament Court
The Thunder’s NBA Cup court still works well even with all the blue given the different shades contrasting the inner and outer parts of the court. However, a better logo or even a hint of orange would have put this higher.
#9: Washington Wizards In-Season Tournament Court
The Wizards look to be pulling off the cherry blossom color palette, but the odd choice of background design — the hand going for the ball — prevents this NBA Cup court design from moving up any higher.
#8: Dallas Mavericks In-Season Tournament Court
The blue on Dallas’ court isn’t too over the top, and the skyline silhouette is a nice touch as well. This NBA Cup court design is pretty basic, but it does the job well.
#7: Milwaukee Bucks In-Season Tournament Court
A similar design to Dallas with the blue court and the darker outer portion, but the buck antler design in the half courts put Milwaukee one step above the Mavericks. The matching antler silhouettes and Fear the Deer sideline print are also nice touches.
#6: Portland Trail Blazers In-Season Tournament Court
A beautiful homage to the “City of Roses” with this NBA Cup court. Arguably the best background design of any NBA Cup court.
#5: Los Angeles Lakers In-Season Tournament Court
Despite the bright court color on the Lakers NBA Cup court design, the purple outer portion showcases both team colors along with the stars to honor all their previous championship teams.
The LA silhouette on the court makes this the top court using the yellow/gold primary color. Additionally, the warm yellow with the palm trees in the silhouette give the vibe of the Los Angeles sunshine.
#4: Cleveland Cavaliers In-Season Tournament Court
The wine color on this NBA Cup court design and the vintage Cavs “net” logo on both sides taking up each half of the court makes this one of the best designs for the NBA Cup. Subtle, yet beautiful.
#3: Chicago Bulls In-Season Tournament Court
The Bulls may not have a great team, but at least their NBA Cup court design looks great. This design has a large menacing bull lurking on the court and the whole black and red design works beautifully.
#2: Toronto Raptors In-Season Tournament Court
Vintage Raptors purple always hits, especially when it’s the only purple court of the tournament, but the lack of an on-court design prevents it from taking the number one NBA Cup court design spot. Which goes to...
#1: Charlotte Hornets In-Season Tournament Court
The Hornets’ teal and purple always work well together, and this design features both prominently. Incorporation of both primary team colors, plus the addition of the honeycomb pattern make it the stand-out NBA Cup court design.
Find the top NBA picks for the NBA Cup games on Tuesday, December 3 here.
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The NBA Cup is fast approaching, with the new 2024 NBA Cup court designs bringing us bold, fresh new looks to courts across the NBA. Whether you love them or hate them, they bring a new element to NBA Cup games.
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