One of the bigger talking points amongst media members and basketball fans on social media has been the shortcomings of the presentation of the 2025 NBA Finals on ABC, particularly when it comes to the lack of on-court decals on the broadcast.
Whether it be physical decals of the Larry O’Brien trophy or digital ones on the broadcast, fans watching the NBA Finals over the years have become accustomed to seeing decals that give the series a special feel compared to a standard regular season broadcast.
That wasn’t the case for Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which led to predictable conversations from many on social media insinuating that ABC and the NBA dropped the ball.
For Game 2 of the series, a Larry O’Brien Trophy decal was displayed throughout portions of the broadcast, which appeared to be a direct response to all of the outrage. But ultimately, many believed that the decal itself was incredibly sloppy and low-resolution, leading to even more criticism.
There are now NBA Finals (digital) trophies showing on the court for the ESPN on ABC broadcast of Pacers-Thunder Game 2. 🏀📺🏆 https://t.co/aroKp9NPNY pic.twitter.com/Cdpssa5Rvc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 9, 2025
Ahead of Game 3 of the series on Wednesday night, Silver addressed the criticisms of the lack of decals on the broadcast during an appearance on the NBA Countdown pregame show, explaining that physical on-court decals have largely been a thing of the past for years now.
“I’ve seen some of the chatter on social media about on-court decals,” said Silver. People don’t realize, they went away a decade ago. Because there were claims, Kendrick knows…they were slippery when we had the decals on the court. So we’re back to adding them virtually.”
“I’ve seen some of the chatter on social media about on-court decals. People don’t realize, they went away a decade ago. There were claims, Kendrick knows…they were slippery…we’re back to adding them virtually.”
Adam Silver on no on-court decals during the NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/YRhxLaR0TK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 12, 2025
Most understand that physical on-court decals likely aren’t coming back due to the fact that they can often be slippery for players, as Silver alluded to.
But the real issue that Silver appears to be dismissive of is that fans clearly want more planning to be involved from the NBA and ABC to make the series feel important.
On-court decals, physical or digital, are undoubtedly one of the biggest issues with the NBA Finals presentation. But it is far from the only issue.
A lack of a national anthem before tipoff or pregame introductions for both teams on the broadcast similarly make these NBA Finals games feel more like regular season games. In comparison to some of the pregame features that we have seen in the MLB throughout the World Series in recent years, the NBA is simply falling entirely flat.
Essentially, the only thing in the NBA Finals broadcast that truly sets these games apart from a regular season game is a small portion of the score bug and one on-court digital decal for the NBA Finals that includes a YouTube TV ad.
In the eyes of Adam Silver, perhaps that is all that is needed. But clearly, fans at home largely don’t agree with him, as there were plenty of complaints about the presentation of Game 3 on Wednesday night as well.
Are we voting on how bad ABC presentation – start to finish – is?
— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) June 12, 2025
The digital Finals decals help, but it’s so awkward when they disappear after a replay or camera cut to a player.
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) June 12, 2025
I think the NBA Finals broadcast needs more YouTubeTV logos
— Wyatt Wheeler (@WyattWheeler_NL) June 12, 2025
I’m fine with super imposing too, it’s just the broadcast is terrible. Go watch the intros, the coverage from 2018 or even 2010, it felt special.
Now I have 17 YouTube TV logos on my screen and 3 Finals logos. They don’t even show player intros or the anthem anymore
— Brett Alper (@TheRealAlper) June 12, 2025
