Design Thinking in Full Court Press

The Emirates NBA Cup is back — and so are the custom courts. For the past two seasons, artist Victor Solomon has led the creation of all 30 team courts, collaborating with designers, engineers, and broadcast tech teams to balance art, performance, and physics. Each court is a masterclass in design thinking and applied STEM.

What Goes Into a Court Like This?

• Geometry & Symmetry: The 5×5 mosaic grid that overlays every court symbolizes five players per team and five teams per group, creating a geometric framework that keeps proportions balanced for broadcast and gameplay.

• Material Science: Each maple floor is tested for friction coefficients and bounce uniformity. Even paint thickness is engineered to avoid traction changes or glare under arena lights.

• Color Theory & Optics: Courts can’t be pure white (too bright for cameras) or black (too light-absorbing). Designers tested gradients to ensure optimal reflectivity and color contrast for both players and broadcast visibility.

• Broadcast Engineering: Every court was 3D modeled and printed for camera tests in Phoenix to ensure the colors, exposure, and transitions looked natural as cameras panned the floor.

• Iterative Design: Solomon calls it “a weird third thing” — part art, part science, part engineering. Each season builds on the last, refining color transitions, geometry, and visual balance in collaboration with every team’s local creative directors.