Grading the Atlanta Hawks’ new court design that matches their jersey rebranding.
Just like everything else Atlanta Hawks related, it feels like forever ago since the team unveiled their new jerseys. Those kits were well-reviewed by just about everyone in the basketball community, Hawks fans or not.
On Thursday, the team announced a new court design to go along with that new look, although the court is just about the same as the triangle era, with just a few minor tweaks (you know, without the triangles).
Notably, the center court logo is untouched, unless it’s slightly bigger/smaller, I can’t tell. You can scroll through the Instagram post below to see it for yourself.
The color of the hardwood itself looks unchanged as well, remaining as a lighter gradient of wood compared to the rest of the league. The biggest change comes on the baseline and sideline colors, obviously shedding the triangles that used to roam free on the paint, and switching from charcoal to a true black.
The “Atlanta Hawks” along each baseline is updated with the team’s new font and colors, which gives the whole thing a much classier look, just as the jerseys do. “True to Atlanta” is spelled out across the bottom of the court, replacing “ATL” on the previous iteration.
Overall, it’s a much less drastic change than the jerseys, and it looks fine, if not unspectacular. The biggest flaw is the new yellow font on the dark black paint. It looks interesting but it’s a bit brash and doesn’t quite mesh with the red and white logo at midcourt.
Unfortunately, no one knows quite when the Hawks will be debuting their new court. There were reports that the league was aiming for a December 22nd restart, but that seems very optimistic.
More realistically, we’ll be seeing the team’s new court sometime in 2021. Whenever it is, Trae Young should be pulling up from everywhere. We look forward to it.
Grade: B
What do you think of the Atlanta Hawks’ new court design?