Adam Silver Might Be Drunk With Power By Suggesting There Could Also Be Special Colorful Courts For The NBA Finals

Juan Ocampo. Getty Images.

I think it's fair to say that when it comes to new ideas for the NBA, Adam Silver is on a bit of a hot streak. The Play In Tournament has proven to be a great idea, and then with the conclusion of the IST last night, I would say the general consensus for that is pretty positive as well. Even someone like myself who wanted to vomit watching the Lakers pull out the win and then celebrate can acknowledge that the idea as a whole seems to be another win for Silver. I do still think the only tweak they need is to bail on the neutral court idea though. I get why they wanted it in Vegas, but I feel like if the last two rounds were played on the home court of the higher seed, the intensity and energy would be even better. There was a drastic dropoff in that department when we went from the Quarterfinals to the two games in Vegas, even though with such a massive LA fanbase last night was basically a Lakers home game.

So with the success of Silvers most recent ideas, it's only natural that he tries to keep things rolling with more tweaks, and this time he's talking NBA Finals

My instant reaction?

On one hand, bringing back the trophy to the center of the court is a GREAT idea. When we first learned of the new IST court designs, that was one of the things I talked about adding back in for the Finals. I never really understood why it went away given that it's such an iconic look. So if Adam Silver wants to bring that back, he has my full support.

But you can see where he's starting to feel himself a little bit with the IST idea and may be a little tipsy with power. We do NOT need colorful courts for the NBA Finals. I don't want to sound too much like an old, and while I do think the color courts work fine for the IST, we need to pump the brakes here. The whole point was the colored courts were to let you know there was something "unique" about these regular season games that weren't just regular season games. It was a differentiator. 

We do NOT need that for the Finals. Everyone who flips on an NBA Finals game knows they are watching the NBA Finals. At some point, some things need to be sacred. This feels more like Silver doesn't have anyone in his life to tell him when things aren't a good idea. Just because they worked for the IST does not mean there needs to be even more of it, especially for the Finals. There's no need to overthink it. 

Do you want to revamp the courts for the Finals? OK, here's all you have to do

Step 1: Put back in the giant trophy graphic at midcourt

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

Step 2: Bring back "The Finals" cursive script that's on the side of the floor

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

That's it. That's all you need to do to make the Finals court "unique". It gets the message across, it's clean, and it doesn't completely remove the brand identity of the teams playing. 

Now I'll admit, maybe I'm just a bit salty about this after we learned that the NBA denied the Celtics' request to have parquet down the middle of their IST court design. But if the Celts are fortunate enough to get back to the Finals, I do not want to see any other type of floor at the Garden. I don't even want to see a green IST court with parquet down the middle. I want the real thing.

My fear is that because the IST was so well received, Silver is now going to try and force elements of it where they don't need to exist. The colorful courts are a fun gimmick for the IST, and that's where they should stay. I know that not every arena has as iconic of a floor as what the Celts have at the Garden, but to me, this just feels like trying to force things a bit too much. Just take the IST win, bring back the two elements mentioned above for the Finals, and call it a day. 

Again, maybe this is just me being an old. Maybe I should reserve judgment until we see what these "colorful" Finals courts actually look like. But at the same time, I'm not interested. Don't ruin a good thing by trying to force it down our throats at every opportunity. The IST was a win. The courts for those games were fine. But this is the NBA Finals we're talking about, where the title actually matters. You don't need gimmicks for that thing to draw eyeballs, everyone is already watching.

So please, I need someone in Silver's circle to tell him this is a bad idea.