The Los Angeles Lakers made a last-minute change to Crypto.com Arena on Friday after determining the team’s NBA Cup Court was “unplayable.”
According to NBC Los Angeles, the Lakers are sending the bright yellow in-season tournament court back to vendors for repairs due to safety concerns. The team swapped out the specialty court for its regular home court for Friday night’s in-season tournament game. Technicians from the court vendors were called in to assess the playability of the NBA Cup Court before the switch was made.
"It's just slippery. It's dangerous," Luka Doncic told reporters after the game. "I slipped. I slipped a lot of times, and you could see a lot of players slipped. And that's dangerous, man."
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The NBA Cup Court is expected to be repaired and returned to Crypto.com Arena in two weeks. The slippery surface could be linked to the Lakers’ shared space with the Los Angeles Kings’ NHL team. Crypto.com Arena was transformed from an NBA court to a hockey rink and back again, potentially leading to condensation on the court surface.
“Sometimes courts just don't dry well when there's condensation on it,” Lakers head coach, JJ Redick added.
"Player safety is our top priority," a league spokesperson told ESPN. "In consultation with the Lakers, we identified areas of their NBA Cup court that required additional refinishing, so the team will use its standard home court for tonight's game. The NBA Cup court is being reconditioned and will be ready for use in the quarterfinals should they host."
Most NBA teams have a rotation of three courts to use for home games: their regular home court, their city edition court and their NBA Cup Court. The NBA Cup Courts are sanded down to bare wood and repainted before each year’s tournament, making them unique from year to year.
"That was bad," Lakers forward Rui Hachimura told reporters Friday about the court. "I felt it right away when I was warming up. It just felt weird. Just like oily, slippery."
