NBA teams design their own courts, from the center-court logo to the baseline wordmarks
When you watch an NBA game, the court is doing a lot of quiet work. It sets the color of the broadcast, frames every logo, and tells you instantly whose building you are in. So who actually designs it? We assumed it was Nike or the league office, the same way most people assume Nike designs the jerseys. We were wrong on both counts. The teams design their own courts, and the process is more hands-on than you would ever guess. We learned how it works from Shelly Wilkes, the Orlando Magic's Chief Marketing Officer, as part of our full interview on how NBA uniforms and identities actually get made.
The Teams Design Their Own Courts
Just like the jerseys, the court is a team project. Each club designs its own hardwood, from the paint in the key to the wordmarks on the baseline to the center-court logo, working within a long list of league guidelines. The NBA sets the rules that keep the game readable on television: requirements for broadcast contrast, for which colors can go where, and for the court lines themselves, which stay consistent league-wide so officials and viewers can trust what they are seeing. Inside those guardrails, though, the look is the team's call.
Courts Are Color-Matched to the Uniforms, Literally
Here is the detail we could not stop thinking about. A team's court and its uniforms are not matched by swapping color codes over email. They are matched with a physical jersey. When a team finalizes a uniform, it sends an actual jersey to the company that paints the court, and that manufacturer mixes the paint to match the fabric exactly. The court color is calibrated to the real thing a player wears, not a number on a screen.
That is why the best team identities feel so cohesive from the rafters. The blue on the floor is the same blue on the chest because it was literally color-matched to it. Wilkes told us this is part of why the Magic shifted their blue for the 2025 rebrand: their uniform and their court were already effectively the same brighter blue, because that is the shade of Nike's fabric, so they moved the entire brand to match what fans were already seeing on the floor and on the jersey.
The One Exception: The NBA Cup Court
There is exactly one court a team does not design: the NBA Cup court. For the in-season tournament, the league hands every participating team a single template, and clubs are only allowed minor team-specific tweaks. It is why those tournament floors look so different from a team's normal home court and so similar to one another. That is by design. The Cup is a league-wide event, so the league owns the canvas.
Why It's the Team's Job, Not Nike's
This lines up with the biggest misconception we ran into reporting on NBA design: fans assume Nike or the league draws everything, when in reality the teams are the authors. Nike manufactures the jerseys and the NBA owns the marks and sets the guardrails, but the creative work, the jerseys and the courts alike, happens inside the team's own building. The court is just the largest canvas they design on.
The Bottom Line on Who Designs NBA Courts
NBA teams design their own courts, within league guidelines built to keep the game legible on broadcast. The floor is color-matched to the uniforms by shipping a real jersey to the paint manufacturer, which is why the best identities look seamless from the upper deck. The only court a team does not design is the NBA Cup floor, a league template with minor tweaks. So the next time a center-court logo or a baseline wordmark catches your eye, know that it came from the same people who designed the jersey, not from Nike and not from the league office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designs NBA courts?
The teams do. Each NBA team designs its own court, from the center-court logo to the baseline wordmarks to the paint in the key, within a set of league guidelines for broadcast contrast, colors, and court lines. Nike and the NBA do not design team courts. According to Orlando Magic CMO Shelly Wilkes, the same team creative group that designs the uniforms also designs the court.
Does Nike design NBA courts?
No. Nike manufactures the jerseys and runs some league-wide uniform programs, but it does not design team courts. The court is a team project, built within NBA guidelines for broadcast and court lines.
How are NBA courts matched to the team's uniforms?
Physically. When a team finalizes a uniform, it sends an actual jersey to the court manufacturer, which mixes the paint to match the fabric exactly. The floor color is calibrated to the real jersey, not a digital color code, which is why a team's court and uniforms look so cohesive on the broadcast.
What is the one NBA court that teams don't design?
The NBA Cup court. For the in-season tournament, the league provides every team a single template court and allows only minor team-specific customization, which is why those floors look alike and different from a team's normal home court.
More on NBA Design
- Who Really Designs NBA Uniforms? It's Not Nike (Inside the Orlando Magic Rebrand) — the full interview this story comes from
- Why Don't NBA Teams Wear White at Home Anymore? — the money behind the vanishing home white
- Who Decides Which Uniform a Team Wears Each Game
