Zebra Sports NBA ABC/ESPN NBA Finals broadcast’s addition of digitally-imposed trophies took criticism

ABC/ESPN NBA Finals broadcast’s addition of digitally-imposed trophies took criticism

June 8, 2025June 8, 2025 Andrew BucholtzAndrew Bucholtz 0 Comment 10:15 pm
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A large topic of discussion around the 2025 NBA Finals has been the lack of physical decals indicating that it’s the Finals or showing off the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Of course, there haven’t been any sort of physical decals on the floor showing the Finals or the trophy since 2020, and the large physical trophy decals haven’t been used since 2009, but Game 1 this year didn’t even feature virtual trophy decals. Several media members and fans particularly complained about that, and that led to digitally-inserted trophy logos in the first quarter of Game 2 Sunday:

In the second quarter, that quickly changed to the script logo of “The NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV”:

Both the digitally-inserted trophies and the digitally-inserted logo drew some criticism. Here’s a sampling of that:

However, it’s notable that the broadcast went back to the digital trophies for the third quarter:

The telecast then returned to the Finals logo in the fourth quarter:

The switch to the digital Finals logo in the second and quarters may have been always planned and/or mandated as part of YouTube TV’s title sponsorship of the event. It’s not necessarily in response to criticism for the digital trophies. And the return to the digital trophies in the third quarter suggests going away from them wasn’t particularly about that criticism.

But it was certainly still unusual to see ESPN/ABC add a new graphics element to their Finals presentation in Game 2 (new graphics bells and whistles usually debut at the start of a series). And it was more unusual still to see that apparently come in response to the criticism for a lack of trophies and logos, and to see their new graphic approach take further criticism.

As noted, the lack of physical Finals and trophy logos is not new. The trophy was most prominently featured in halfcourt decals from 2005-2009, and there was a physical on-court Finals logo from then until 2014, with on-court decals involving the Finals logo (which had previously been used from 1989-2004) and/or the trophy again appearing in 2017 and 2020. Player safety concerns were cited in 2014 for the removal of the physical decals, which followed a similar 2012 NCAA decision, but it’s notable that there remain some physically painted ads on these floors:

The trophy decal discussion particularly took off this year more so than in past years. That even prompted NBA commissioner Adam Silver to weigh in after Game 1, where he said he was open to bringing on-court trophy images back. Silver also added there that he hadn’t considered reopening that issue until he saw the social media discussion of it:

“Maybe there’s a way around it,” he told a small group of reporters during an NBA Cares charity event at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County. “To be honest, I hadn’t thought all that much about it until I (saw) it (on social media). I’m nostalgic, as well, for certain things. And also, I think for a media-driven culture, whether it’s people watching live or seeing those images on social media, it’s nice when you’re looking back on highlights and they stand out because you see that trophy logo or some other indication that it’s a special event. So, we’ll look at it.”

But the particular trophy/logo approach taken in Game 2 took giant waves of criticism of its own. We’ll see if the NBA and ABC/ESPN stick with that for the rest of this series, or if they change things again for Game 3.

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