CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The NBA unveiled the court that will be used during All-Star weekend later this month at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and a shoppable NFT program of the design on Friday.
The All-Star court honors the league’s 75th Anniversary season and is trimmed out in the Cavaliers wine and gold colors with the 2022 NBA All-Star Game logo at center court.
The baselines and sidelines feature “a faceted diamond pattern” in tribute to the NBA’s diamond anniversary. ‘Cleveland’ in the Cavaliers’ script font followed by the secondary All-Star logo and 2022 is printed on both baselines.
A trio of stars shooting across center court trail the league’s history of milestone All-Star anniversaries celebrated in Cleveland. The 1981 NBA All-Star logo sits within the bottom left star, highlighting the league’s 35th Anniversary and game played at Richfield Coliseum while the 1997 NBA All-Star Game logo sits within the top right star, highlighting the league’s 50th Anniversary and game played downtown at then named Gund Arena (currently named Rocket Mortgage FiledHouse).
A silhouette of the NBA75 logo sits in the top left and bottom right corners of the court inside the 3-point line.
The floor employs a subtle gradation of wood tone transitions from center court to within the key, to inside the paint and includes a unique wood design inlaid within the paint on each side – a parquet pattern on the left and a herringbone pattern on the right, used on basketball courts dating back to the 1890’s.
The league also launched a commemorative NBA All-Star NFT art gallery for fans to purchase.
The NFTs showcase the history of NBA All-Star games in Ohio through the courts the games have been played on, represented as limited-edition digital collectibles. Each court will be displayed as part of NBA All-Star artwork covering one of 10 Cleveland locations, and will then be digitally represented in its original form, the “NBA Edition,” as well as in a 75th Anniversary thematic, the “Diamond Edition.”
The purchase of any “Diamond Edition” NFT will also include a mini physical replica of the court.
As part of the program, $100,000 of the proceeds from the sale of the NFTs will go to the Funders Collaborative on COVID Recovery, a partnership that includes nearly 50 philanthropic foundations, nonprofits, and government entities, to help support the community as it recovers from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19.
The designs include the 1966 NBA All-Star 1966 court from Cincinnati Gardens, the 1981 All-Star court from Richfield Coliseum, the 1997 NBA All-Star court from Gund Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse), and this year’s floor plus an exclusive 75th Anniversary court design inspired by the creative used throughout the season in celebration of the milestone.
The QR codes can be found located throughout downtown Cleveland at various locations including Tower City Center entrances at Public Square and Huron Road, the JACK Cleveland Casino Skywalk, RTA’s B-Line Trolleys, The 9’s digital boards overlooking E. 9th Street, The Arcade, Gateway District wallscapes and Gateway Plaza next to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.