Nets unveil league's first all-gray court inspired by Brooklyn borough
The Brooklyn Nets unveiled the league’s first all-gray court on Monday, making Barclays Center feel more like the borough it proudly calls home.
The features are meant to evoke the feeling of Brooklyn and its playground courts, iconic brownstones, its “industrial vibes” and, of course, the subways, Zach Lowe wrote for ESPN after the Nets shared the news on Twitter.
The colors of our new floor, weathered wood and concrete gray, represent playground courts throughout the borough; the brownstone-lined streets and Brooklyn’s industrial foundation. The palette engrains the grit and determination of Brooklyn into our playing surface. pic.twitter.com/S5tRw5TOzP
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 23, 2019
The gray floor is a nod to the blacktop court streets of Brooklyn and its “industrial vibe.” The league approved the idea, per Lowe, and the Nets organization worked on getting the color gray just right to come across well on broadcasts. It’s a gray stain on the herringbone designed wood court, which is similar to the floor pattern in many Brooklyn brownstone homes.
Inspired by the borough. Built for the borough.
Introducing our first fully redesigned court of the Brooklyn era 🎥 pic.twitter.com/NKilJhu9u0— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 23, 2019
The Helvetica font “Brooklyn Nets” matches what the Metropolitan Transportation Authority uses on subway signs. The Nets also brought back the mosaic-style lettering in the baseline wordmarks that it scrapped last year.
Jeff Gamble, the team's vice president of content and creative, told ESPN:
"The subway design really resonated. We got a couple of eyebrow raises [over moving away from it]. We nodded along at that. We felt like we had made a change for the sake of change. We could have handled it better."
The team originally wanted black lettering on white baselines with black tiles, but switched it to white lettering on black with white tiles around the sidelines after getting feedback from the league, per ESPN. They also went with a simple “B” logo at halfcourt rather than the full Nets logo.
The baselines proudly display “Brooklyn Nets” in typeface inspired by subway signage, with a subway tile pattern running across the apron perimeter. pic.twitter.com/4OnFm1IbwP
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) September 23, 2019
The court is only the latest aspect of the Nets to get a do-over. The team added Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan in free agency and Joseph Tsai took over full ownership of the team this summer.
More from Yahoo Sports:
