The newly designed In-Season Tournament courts aimed to captivate viewers, but instead of making an impact on the audience, there’s growing concern that they might be leaving an impact on the players’ physical well-being.
Jaylen Brown expressed his dissatisfaction with a court he found too slippery on Friday night, joining a chorus of NBA players criticizing surfaces that may look sleek but pose challenges during gameplay.
In the Celtics’ 108-105 victory in Toronto, Brown experienced two slips in the final minute of the game on the freshly redesigned court at Scotiabank Arena.
The second slip occurred as Brown was attempting to create space during an in-bounds play and could potentially have resulted in an injury.
“I slipped. I might have strained my groin a little bit,” Brown told reporters in Toronto. “We’ll see how it feels. The court was just slippery all game. As players, we’re all here for the In-Season Tournament because it’s going to generate revenue, excitement, competition, etc. But we’ve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on. We can’t put our players out there and risk their health.
“Tonight, I thought the floor was kind of unacceptable,” added Brown, who is a vice president of the players’ union. “Guys were slipping all over the place, not just me.”
Jaylen Brown rips ‘unacceptable’ NBA In-Season Tournament court as injury concerns mount https://t.co/NuxaNsV7XZ pic.twitter.com/UHQTq6GSCG
— New York Post (@nypost) November 18, 2023
