Monday afternoon, Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark took a basketball, stepped underneath a strip of yellow caution tape and laid down a dribble upon the herringbone-patterned court at Barclays Center. Moments later, he was sinking a layup and -- egged on by arena construction workers -- shedding his jacket and swishing jumpers.
After nine years of envisioning the moment, Yormark had finally stepped foot on the Barclays Center hardwood.
"It's surreal to think that the court's down, that the building's almost completed," Yormark said. "It's been a long journey, but I think you can fairly say it's well worth the wait. I think Brooklynites, all our key stakeholders, owners, management, all of our employees are really going to be pleased when they see the court and the finished product here. It's spectacular."
Designed by the Brooklyn Nets' creative team and produced at Connor Sports Flooring Manufacturing Mill in Amasa, Mich., the court will officially debut November 1, when the Nets open the season against the Knicks. It consists of 240 panels each measuring 4-feet wide, 7-feet long and 185 pounds; they took two weeks to construct, utilizing specialized milled lumber. The court takes four hours to assemble.
The team's performance logo, a basketball emblazoned with a 'B' and encircled by "Brooklyn, New York" appears at center court, and the area in front of the home bench is stamped with "BROOKLYNNETS.COM" to direct viewers to the team Web site; on the away side, it reads "@BROOKLYNNETS", a reference to the official Twitter account.
"The vision all along was to have something that was truly identifiable and unique and when people turned on their TVs at home, know they were in Brooklyn," Yormark said. "When you turn on the TV and you turn on a Celtics game and you look at that court, it's a parquet that has become very recognizable. We want this to be the same -- it's our version of the parquet. I think it truly delivered against all of our expectations."
For more views of the Brooklyn Nets' official home court, check out our exclusive video highlights and this accompanying photo gallery.