Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic narrowly dodged a serious injury on Wednesday night. Everyone caught the moment when he stumbled in the first quarter after backpedaling off the Cleveland Cavaliers’ court in Rocket Arena. Doncic limped off the floor, clearly shaken, before returning later in the game to finish with 29 points in a loss. By the next morning, it was no longer just a clip.

Today, it was revealed that the NBA and the Cavs are meeting to discuss changes to the design of the court, with one league spokesperson adding:

“While improvements have been made to the arena floor over the years to address this issue, the NBA and the Cavaliers are revisiting the situation given the incident last night.”

Regardless of the situation being framed as a reassessment discussion instead of a reaction, the urgency is unmistakable, especially because it was a near miss involving one of the league’s biggest stars on national television.

What makes the incident stand out more is that this isn’t the first time the concern has been raised. Back in November 2023, Miami Heat guard Dru Smith suffered a season-ending injury after landing awkwardly in the same gap. Back then, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra had called it a “dangerous floor,” and that it had been an issue for years.

Then Cavs head coach JB Bickerstaff had fired back at the sentiment, saying:

“Our guys are comfortable playing here… We haven’t had any incidents because of how our floor is built.”

Why Do the Cavaliers Play on an Elevated Court?

Rocket Arena, the Cavs‘ home court, has an ice hockey rink underneath the basketball flooring on game days. The wooden floor rests about 10 inches off the rubber covering the ice, and has been in place since the building first opened in 1994 as the Gund Arena, and hasn’t changed despite renovations over the years.

This, in itself, is not unique. Many arenas feature ice rinks, but the difference here is where the floor seats are. In other arenas, the closest seats are on top of the floor, or so close that there’s no visible gap.

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In Rocket Arena, the closest seats are under the playing surface, leaving a small opening between the court and the rubber mat below, where Luka Doncic fell.

“The basketball court layout and design at Rocket Arena is fully compliant with NBA rules,” A Cleveland Cavaliers spokesperson said. “And has been in place for [20-plus] years, with ongoing collaboration and regular evaluation between our organization, the league and independent flooring experts to support player safety and performance.”

They emphasized an ongoing collaboration with the league to ensure player safety, but this still hasn’t stopped voices from questioning why the risk exists at all.

3 Potential Fixes for the Cavaliers’ Court to Avoid Injuries

One option under consideration for the Cleveland Cavaliers is quite simple: adding rubber ramps or sloped edges along the sidelines to soften the drop. It won’t completely eliminate the elevated floor structure, but it would definitely reduce the risk of a sudden fall. This is likely the most realistic option that the team could undertake in the middle of the season.

A more expensive option would be to potentially widen the court itself and place the floor seating on top of it, as other arenas around the league do. This would completely remove the gap and eliminate the risk, but would also be difficult to implement in the middle of the season, especially given the Cavs’ likely playoff push.

The most drastic option would be to eliminate the raised platform entirely and play directly above the ice, with only the rubber mat between them. This would require significant adjustment within the arena to prevent the ice from melting, especially because condensation issues have caused significant delays before.

Just this season, a Bulls-Heat game was postponed due to condensation at the United Center. It’s the easiest solution, but also the least practical.

For now, all we can do is wait and see what happens, but everyone around the league is aligned on one thing: doing nothing is not acceptable.