2009 NBA Finals court · Lakers vs Magic · Staples Center · via /r/Lakers on Reddit
2026 NBA Finals court · Knicks · Madison Square Garden · via NBA
The 2026 NBA Finals court paints the Larry O'Brien Trophy at center court for the first time in 17 years. The last NBA Finals court with the trophy painted at center was the 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic at Staples Center. We pulled up the 2009 court next to the brand new 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts and counted four real differences in 17 years. A redesigned trophy. A flipped orientation. A smaller center logo, with the team mark now sitting inside the trophy silhouette instead of next to it. A brand new NBA Finals logo painted on the sideline. Same idea, new execution.
2026 NBA Finals court · Spurs · Frost Bank Center · via NBA
The 2026 court brings back the trophy as the visual anchor of the floor, the same move the league made in 2009 with the Lakers logo wrapped around the trophy at Staples Center. The execution lands in a different place. Below, every difference between the 2009 and 2026 NBA Finals court designs, mark by mark.
Difference 1: The Larry O'Brien Trophy Itself Got Redesigned in 2022
The trophy painted on the 2009 court is not the same trophy painted on the 2026 court. The NBA and Tiffany & Co. unveiled a redesigned Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in May 2022 for the league's 75th anniversary season, the first major redesign of the trophy since it replaced the Walter A. Brown Trophy in 1977. Los Angeles designer Victor Solomon led the redesign in partnership with Tiffany, which has manufactured the trophy for decades.
The biggest visual change is the base. The old trophy had a square foundation that handed off awkwardly during the postgame celebration. The new trophy sits on two stacked round discs, one for the league's first 75 championship teams from 1947 to 2021 and one reserved for the next 25 from 2022 through the league's 100th anniversary in 2046. The new trophy is also heavier, two feet tall and 15.5 pounds of sterling silver and vermeil with a 24 karat gold overlay and exposed silver seams.
The 2009 Lakers court was painted with the original square-base Larry O'Brien Trophy silhouette. The 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts are the first NBA Finals courts to paint the new two-disc round-base Larry O'Brien Trophy silhouette. The trophy at center court on every Finals floor going forward is the new one.
Difference 2: The Trophy Orientation Flipped
The trophy painted on the 2009 Lakers court was oriented one way. The trophy painted on the 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts is oriented the other way. In 2009 the trophy mark read from one direction relative to the center court sideline. In 2026 the league flipped the orientation 180 degrees so the trophy reads in the opposite direction at center court. Small visual detail, but it changes which broadcast camera frames the trophy upright in the wide shot. The 2026 orientation puts the trophy in the strongest position for the primary broadcast camera angle.
Difference 3: The Center Court Logo Is Smaller in 2026 to Make Room for a Bigger Finals Logo
The 2009 court built the entire center court mark around the Lakers script logo. The Lakers wordmark dominated the visual footprint and the trophy silhouette sat in service of the team identity. The 2026 court flipped that hierarchy. The Knicks roundel and the Spurs primary mark are reduced in scale and pulled inside the Larry O'Brien Trophy silhouette, and the trophy itself takes more of the center court visual real estate. The reduction in the team logo scale opens up space for a brand new mark to live above the trophy on the sideline, which is the fourth and most important difference.
Difference 4: The Corner Finals Logos Changed From "The Finals" Cursive to the New NBA Finals Logo on the Sideline
The 2009 Lakers court painted "The Finals" cursive script wordmark in all four corners of the floor near the baselines, the same script that lived on every NBA Finals court from the early 2000s through 2014. Four cursive marks on the 2009 floor, one in each corner. The 2026 court does not paint the cursive script in those four corner placements. Instead, the league painted a brand new NBA Finals primary logo on the sideline directly above and below the center court trophy. The new mark pairs the NBA Jerry West silhouette logo with the Larry O'Brien Trophy in a stacked vertical lockup, and it sits on the broadcast-facing sideline at the highest visibility position on the floor.
We loved the old "The Finals" cursive script in the corner. The cursive wordmark is one of the most recognizable design pieces in NBA postseason history, the kind of mark that reads as the Finals from across the building. The new NBA Finals primary logo in the sideline placement is sharper and more contemporary, but it loses the soft cursive personality the old corner mark carried for over a decade.
The trade-off the league made on the new sideline placement is the upgrade we did not expect. In 2009 the area directly above the center court mark held the standard NBA primary logo, the same mark every regular season court carries. In 2026 the league replaced that NBA logo with the dedicated NBA Finals logo, instantly upgrading the highest-visibility sideline placement from a regular season mark to a Finals-specific mark. That swap is the single biggest visual upgrade between the two courts.
Our Verdict: The 2026 Court Is Different, Not Necessarily Better Everywhere
We graded the 2026 NBA Finals court an A+ in our original court reveal post, and that grade stands. The 2026 court has more Finals branding on the floor than any NBA Finals court since 2009, and the painted-not-decal commitment means it photographs in every wide shot. The new sideline NBA Finals logo above the trophy is the strongest single design addition the league has made to a Finals court in the past 15 years.
But the 2009 court did the corners better. The cursive "The Finals" script wordmark in the corner placement is the mark we wish came back along with the trophy. The new NBA Finals primary logo is sharp, but it does not carry the personality the cursive script had on every Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Heat, and Spurs Finals court from the early 2000s through 2014. The league brought back the cursive in the keys on both sides of the floor on the 2026 court, which softens the corner loss, but the corner placement reads differently without it.
Net of all four differences, the 2026 NBA Finals court is the strongest postseason floor the league has put down in nearly two decades. It is not a 1:1 recreation of the 2009 Lakers court. It is the league building on the 2009 template with a redesigned trophy, a flipped orientation, a tighter center logo, and a brand new sideline mark that did not exist 17 years ago. Different design language, same idea. The Finals court finally looks like a Finals court again.
The Connection to the 2026 Matchup
The 2026 NBA Finals matchup is the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs, the second meeting between the two franchises in the NBA Finals after the 1999 Finals 27 years ago. The Madison Square Garden floor and the Frost Bank Center floor both carry the new Finals court design with the Larry O'Brien Trophy at center court. The last time the Knicks hosted an NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden was the 1999 Spurs vs Knicks Finals, which the Spurs won 4-1 for the first championship in franchise history.
The 2009 NBA Finals at Staples Center, the last Finals with the trophy at center court, was the Lakers vs Magic series the Lakers won 4-1 for the franchise's 15th championship. Kobe Bryant won Finals MVP. The Lakers script logo wrapped around the Larry O'Brien Trophy at center court was the last NBA Finals court mark to put both pieces together until the 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts brought the format back.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the last NBA Finals court with the Larry O'Brien Trophy painted at center court before 2026?
The 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic at Staples Center was the last NBA Finals court with the Larry O'Brien Trophy painted at center court before the 2026 Knicks vs Spurs Finals. That is a 17-year absence. Every NBA Finals court from 2010 through 2025 used the home team's standard primary logo at center court without the trophy mark.
What year did the NBA redesign the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy?
The NBA and Tiffany & Co. unveiled the redesigned Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy in May 2022 for the league's 75th anniversary season. Los Angeles designer Victor Solomon led the redesign in partnership with Tiffany, which has manufactured the trophy for decades. The 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics was the first Finals to award the redesigned trophy.
What does the new Larry O'Brien Trophy look like compared to the old one?
The redesigned 2022 Larry O'Brien Trophy replaced the original square foundation with two stacked round discs at the base. The top disc displays the league's first 75 championship teams from 1947 to 2021. The bottom disc is reserved for the next 25 championship teams from 2022 through the league's 100th anniversary in 2046. The new trophy is two feet tall and weighs 15.5 pounds of sterling silver and vermeil with a 24 karat gold overlay and exposed silver seams. The original trophy had a square base and was lighter.
Is the 2026 NBA Finals court the same design as the 2009 Lakers Finals court?
No. The 2026 NBA Finals court is not a 1:1 recreation of the 2009 Lakers Finals court. The trophy itself was redesigned in 2022, the trophy orientation on the court was flipped, the home team's primary logo is smaller and pulled inside the trophy silhouette, and the league painted a brand new NBA Finals primary logo on the sideline directly above the trophy at center court. The 2009 court used the original "The Finals" cursive script wordmark in the corner placement. The 2026 court replaced the corner cursive with the new sideline NBA Finals primary logo.
What is the new NBA Finals logo on the 2026 court?
The new NBA Finals logo on the 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts is the league's current NBA Finals primary logo, a vertical lockup that stacks the NBA Jerry West silhouette logo on top of the Larry O'Brien Trophy silhouette. The logo is painted on the sideline directly above and below the center court trophy on both the Madison Square Garden floor and the Frost Bank Center floor. This sideline placement has not appeared on any previous NBA Finals court.
Why did the NBA stop painting the Larry O'Brien Trophy at center court after 2009?
The NBA did not publicly explain the removal of the trophy from the center court mark after the 2009 NBA Finals. Starting with the 2010 Lakers vs Celtics NBA Finals, the league shifted to using the home team's standard primary logo at center court with NBA Finals branding limited to decals on the sideline and around the basket stanchion area. The 2026 court redesign restores the trophy after the 17-year absence and adds new sideline branding the 2009 court did not have.
What is "The Finals" cursive script wordmark?
"The Finals" cursive script wordmark is the original NBA Finals secondary logo, a flowing cursive lockup with the words "The Finals" written in a casual script style. The wordmark lived on every NBA Finals court from the early 2000s through the 2014 Miami Heat vs San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals. The 2026 Finals court brings the cursive script back in both keys on both sides of the floor for the first time in 12 years, but does not bring it back in the corner placement where it lived on the 2009 Lakers court and earlier Finals floors.
Where was "The Finals" cursive wordmark painted on the 2009 Lakers court?
"The Finals" cursive script wordmark was painted in all four corners of the 2009 Lakers Finals court at Staples Center, between the three-point arc and the sideline on both ends of the floor. Four cursive marks on the 2009 floor total. The script was sized to read from courtside seating and from the broadcast camera in the wide shot. The 2026 NBA Finals court does not paint the cursive wordmark in those four corner locations. Instead, the league's new NBA Finals primary logo sits on the sideline above and below the center court trophy mark, and the cursive script moved into the keys on both sides of the floor.
Who played in the 2009 NBA Finals?
The 2009 NBA Finals was the Los Angeles Lakers against the Orlando Magic at Staples Center. The Lakers won the series 4-1 for the 15th championship in franchise history. Kobe Bryant was the NBA Finals MVP. It was the first championship for Lakers head coach Phil Jackson without Shaquille O'Neal on the roster.
Who is playing in the 2026 NBA Finals?
The 2026 NBA Finals is the New York Knicks against the San Antonio Spurs. The Knicks clinched the Eastern Conference with a 4-0 sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Spurs clinched the Western Conference with a Game 7 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Frost Bank Center. The 2026 NBA Finals is the second NBA Finals meeting between the Knicks and Spurs after the 1999 Finals, which the Spurs won 4-1.
Will the new NBA Finals court design be used in 2027 and beyond?
The NBA has not confirmed the 2027 NBA Finals court design, but the 2026 Knicks and Spurs courts are the first painted Finals courts to bring back the Larry O'Brien Trophy at center court after a 17-year absence and to add a dedicated NBA Finals logo on the sideline. The 2026 design is the strongest signal the league has given that the Finals court will carry dedicated branding going forward instead of reverting to a regular season court with a Finals decal. We expect the 2027 NBA Finals court to follow the same trophy-at-center-and-sideline-logo template the 2026 court established.
Are the 2026 NBA Finals court logos painted or decals?
Painted. Adam Silver confirmed on the Pardon My Take podcast earlier this year that the NBA is painting the 2026 NBA Finals logos directly into the hardwood instead of using adhesive court decals. The 2009 Lakers Finals court was also painted. The Finals courts that used decals between 2010 and 2025 had raised edges at center court that created player safety issues. Painted logos sit at the same level as the rest of the floor and photograph cleanly in every camera angle.
For the full breakdown of the 2026 NBA Finals court at Madison Square Garden and Frost Bank Center, read our 2026 NBA Finals court reveal post. For the full visual history of NBA playoff court branding from 2010 through 2026, read our NBA playoff court logo history post. For the first look at the 2026 NBA Finals jerseys with the back patch, read our Knicks 2026 NBA Finals jersey back patch first look.
