The Big 12 basketball tournament is getting rid of slippery LED courts in favor of hardwood

They may be great for fan interaction and advertising sales, but the Big 12 has decided to replace the innovative glass-covered LED floors at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center with a traditional hardwood finish. It will be used for the remainder of the tournament during the semifinals and championship games.

LED floors that used to be It was used during the 2024 NBA All-Star campaign Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, featuring animations and graphics that can also react to players’ movements. They are designed to be softer than hard floors while providing the same amount of grip. However, during the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament last week, and the opening rounds of the men’s tournament this week, some players reported issues with slippage and grip. according to espn.

Texas Tech University kicker Christian Anderson blamed the LED floor for a fall that resulted in a hip injury during the second half of the game against Iowa State University on Thursday. “Obviously the floor is a bit slippery, so I think I made a mistake or made a move that caused me to slip and I ended up in a somewhat unnatural position,” he says. espn.

Grip issues and injuries led to a decision last night by the coaches of the semifinal teams and Big 12 Conference Commissioner Brett Yormark to return the field to the hardwood for the finals.

While opinions on LED glass floors seem to vary between teams and coaches, one big issue is players simply lacking experience on the new surface. Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland He said CBS Sports“We’re not used to playing on it, so the difficulty is knowing how to respond, and it responds differently. Should I say it’s caused problems? It’s been a challenge just because we haven’t played on it enough to get used to how to respond to it. And I think for a quick guard and change of direction, it’s difficult.”

Projectors were used in Many stadiums and arenas for more than a decade To create similar animations without having to switch traditional playing decks. But this technology can only be used when players are on the sidelines. The benefit of LED floors is that they can be used throughout the entire game without bright lights or creating shadows – assuming they don’t play distracting animations during the match, and players actually want to use them.