A primary reason authorities remain concerned by the presence of on-court decals is that, sometimes, players slip on them. This is uncommon, but the consequences can be significant enough to raise concern. The NCAA has actually gone through its own fair share of decal disorder in recent years. Back in 2011, Michigan State forward Branden Dawson slipped on the mid-court logo, suffering a minor knee injury. Coaches such as Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and North Carolina’s Roy Williams voiced their disdain for decals soon after. A year later, the NCAA made the decision to remove on-court decals from sponsors to prevent possible injuries from players slipping on the uneven surfaces.

The NBA has not dealt with any serious injuries related to players slipping on decals, but former Sixers guard Michael Carter-Williams once slipped on a special decal commemorating the retirement of Allen Iverson’s jersey:

Still, the league decided it had more than enough branding without using the court itself to sell.

“There were a lot of considerations taken into account in making this decision, including player safety,” said an NBA spokesman. “We haven’t received any complaints about the decals from teams or players this season, but it was among the factors we discussed. “We decided to remove the playoffs logo from the court for a variety of reasons, including cleaning up the playing surface,” the spokesman added. “Throughout the postseason, the logo will appear on pole pads and seat backs, and on digital LED stanchions and courtside signage. With this added exposure for playoffs branding, we determined the logos on the court were unnecessary.”

ESPN’s Paul Lukas, proprietor of Uni Watch, which tracks aesthetics changes in sports, agreed that the switch wouldn’t make waves: “I think number one, more than half of the teams in the league make the playoffs, so reaching the playoffs is not an elite status kind of thing,” he said. “Number two, three of the teams that made the playoffs this year didn’t even have winning records. Number three, do you really need a big logo plastered on the floor to let people know that it’s the playoffs? Then you have bigger problems to worry about. I just don’t see this as a big deal.”