The Portland Trail Blazers went retro with their court for the 2019-20 season as a way to help commemorate the franchises’ 50th anniversary. But with that season now completed, and with the way 2020 has played out both on and off the court, it’s time to look forward again. Portland’s court for the impending season reflects that.
With reports indicating that the next season is likely to start sooner rather than later, the Trail Blazers unveiled their court at Moda Center for the 2020-21 season (or 2021 season depending on the still to-be-determined start date). Behold...
The new court, which is actually just the 2019-20 court resurfaced and repainted, has a number of design elements constituting stark diversions from not only the 50th anniversary court, but also from the 2018-19 court.
The 70’s-inspired lower case font comprising the “Portland,” and “Trail Blazers” wordmarks on the baseline have been replaced with the modern, upper case font from the team’s 2017 rebrand, though the “Rip City” wordmark retains the standard retro font. The “est. 1970” that accompanied the “Rip City” wordmark on the 50th anniversary court has been replaced by “,oregon” which is also the space in which the team honors the names of long-time season ticket holders.
But the most noticeable changes comes down to one word, or to be more specific, one color: red. The three-point line, the halfcourt line and the hashmarks demarcating the coaching box have been changed from black to red, all of which are firsts for the Trail Blazers' court. The key, which was a retro-inspired off-white on the 2019-20 court, is now red, while the upper half of the free throw circle is now the same woodgrain as the majority of the court after being filled red on the 50th anniversary edition (the team also kept the woodgrain inside the three-point line, a feature of the 50th anniversary court after the previous version featured a lighter woodgrain within the three-point line). However, the lines around the key and those denoting the restricted area remain black (for fairly obvious reasons), meaning there are two different colored lines on the court, a bit of a diversion from standard court designs.
That black/red combo also extends to the apron, with one half of the court being red with black stripes while the other side is black with red stripes, which might make it the only NBA court with a two-tone apron. Previously, the apron was all red on the 2019-20 court and all black on the version prior to that. The five stripes, meant to conform with the five lines on the halfcourt primary logo, are new additions as well.
So there it is, a new court for a new season. When that season will start and who will be on the team once it does are still to be determined, but either way, the home court will be ready.