What began as a high-stakes NBA Cup night showdown between the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Clippers quickly shifted from basketball to safety panic online. Midway through the game, viewers noticed an unusual trend: players kept slipping. Quickly, Lakers superstar Luka Doncic also caught on.

In the first quarter, as Doncic drew a foul from the Clippers’ defense, he appeared to slip slightly as he tried to dribble the ball across a Jaxson Hayes screen. After the foul call, Doncic looked over at the referee and appeared to say, “This court is slippery as f—.”

The broadcast caught the exclamation, and clips of the interaction quickly went viral. After the game, Doncic said of the court, “It’s just slippery, it’s dangerous. I slipped a number of times and you could see like a lot players slip and that’s dangerous.” Even Lakers head coach JJ Redick chimed in, adding, “I noticed that guys were slipping, but I also noticed guys were falling prior to that. Sometimes, courts just don’t dry well when there’s condensation on it.”

However, this isn’t the first time NBA Cup courts have been slippery. Since the inception of the NBA Cup back in 2023, then known as the In-Season Tournament, many players, including Doncic, had complained about the defect.

Back then, Doncic had said after the Dallas Mavericks beat the New Orleans Pelicans that the court was “really bad.” He added, “It was really slippery and then in some places, the ball didn’t really bounce… If we’re going to have these courts, we got to make sure it’s a stable court. It was a little slippery, especially the painted area.”

The issue was so bad that Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, on an attempt to secure a rebound, slipped twice, injuring his groin in the process and had to be helped off the court. Afterward, Brown had said, “The court was just slippery all game. As players, we’re all here for the in-season tournament because it’s going to generate revenue, excitement, competition, etc. We’ve got to make sure the floor is safe to play on. We can’t put our players out there and risk their health. Tonight, I thought the floor was kind of unacceptable. Guys were slipping all over the place, not just me.”

This wasn’t something that just players noted. NBCS Boston commentator Brian Scalabrine also expressed concern on the broadcast, saying, “I like the way this court looks, but there’s been about 10 times that guys are slipping all over the place. If they’re going to do these floors, you’ve got to make sure you’re taking care of the guys.”

The issue got so bad that LeBron James went through an extensive test of the court before a game against the Portland Trail Blazers, sneakers squeaking all over the floor as he stepped on every part of the floor to make sure the court was fine.

Fan Reactions Highlight Safety Concerns on NBA Cup Courts’ Surface

Social media immediately noticed the unusual pattern, with slipping being a common occurrence in the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the LA Clippers. One fan wrote, “Lots of slipping on this court tonight,” echoing Luka Doncic’s complaint, something which has been present since the inception of the tournament.

Another comment criticized the aesthetic of the Cup, saying, “This NBA Cup floor designs suck. Too hard to watch.” The NBA intentionally designed courts to be brightly colored to distinguish Cup games as a measure to build a unique identity, but backlash has existed since the start. Then-Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had said that he “wasn’t a fan” but did admit that they were a “brilliant marketing idea.”

A third reaction compared the court to a hazard, claiming, “Slip and slide all game.” Complaints like this align with those from players, confirming that the issue has been recurrent instead of isolated.

Some users questioned why it seemed so concentrated in tonight’s matchup. One user wrote, “Everyone else’s seems just fine.” Forensic reports in the past have suggested that slipperiness could be caused by a variance in humidity, sweat, dust, and paint friction.

As the slipping continued, one observer posted, “Slipped again just now,” after yet another player lost traction. Concerns like the slippery courts are very real, and these issues can lead to a reevaluation of the construction protocols for the courts.