The NBA revealed on Sunday that the Larry O’Brien Trophy, which is awarded to the Finals champion, will be displayed at midcourt during this season’s championship series games at Madison Square Garden in New York and the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
The script logo for “The Finals” is also returned; it will be on either side of the floor. The Spurs and Knicks series begins in San Antonio on Wednesday.
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The trophy logo will be shown at midcourt throughout the championship series for the first time since the 2009 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic. During the 2014 Finals between the Spurs and Miami Heat, the Finals wordmark and logo were last seen on the floor.
In 1989, the league began utilizing the Finals wordmark on the court for the championship round. In 2004, the wordmark and trophy were integrated, and from 2005 to 2009, the trophy logo was prominently displayed at midcourt.
In previous years, fans have complained on social media about the court’s lack of Finals flair. Some fans publicly questioned the inconsistency of the league’s commissioning of alternate courts for events like NBA Cup games—special courts for the in-season tournament but no unique markings for the Finals.
