Before he was an ESPN analyst, Richard Jefferson spent 17 years playing in the NBA, including four seasons in which his team reached the NBA Finals.
And nobody would blame the 44-year-old for waxing poetic about the good ol’ days of the league’s championship round, at least when it comes to the on-court aesthetics.
Say what you will about the state of the NBA in the 2000s, but it was a golden age when it came the Finals’ presentation. Jerseys were adorned with a Larry O’Brien Trophy patch. The NBA Finals script was omnipresent. And center court logos often featured a giant decal displaying what was up for grabs.
It’s time @NBA , bring back the O’Brien decal for the Finals. pic.twitter.com/XC1u5MX9SJ
— Jason Thomas (@JasonThomasXL) June 2, 2025
On Thursday night, Jefferson called the first NBA Finals matchup of his career as a member of ESPN’s top broadcast team. And while much of the conversation coming from Game 1 focused on the Indiana Pacers’ stunning upset victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, many were also talking about the Finals’ current aura — or lack thereof.
Admittedly, some of that stems from the broadcast that Jefferson was a part of. But a not-insignificant amount of fans also noted how much better the court inside of the Paycom Center would have looked with a giant Larry O’Brien Trophy decal in the middle of it.
In fact, the conversation started before the game even began, with sports media personality Kofie Yeboah commenting on the lack of Larry O’Brien Trophy decals inside of the Thunder’s home arena. That prompted No Dunks co-host J.E. Skeets to share an image of a hat that reads “put Larry O’Brien Trophy back on the Finals court,” which Jefferson took notice of.
“Can I get one?” the former Arizona star asked in a quote-tweet on Friday morning.
Can I get one? https://t.co/U42Q0vQcTm
— Richard Jefferson (@Rjeff24) June 6, 2025
Yes, R.J., you certainly can. And if you want to wear it around whoever makes the decisions regarding how the NBA Finals court is decorated, even better.
As for the likelihood that he NBA will listen to the fan feedback, we aren’t holding our breath, as the Larry O’Brien Trophy center court decal hasn’t been used since the 2010 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Speaking to The Cauldron in 2014, an NBA spokesperson cited player safety as the biggest reason for the decal’s demise.
“There were a lot of considerations taken into account in making this decision, including player safety,” the spokesperson said. “We decided to remove the playoffs logo from the court for a variety of reasons, including cleaning up the playing surface.”
As for the uniforms patches, those were moved to the back of the players’ jerseys in 2015, presumably to make way for the addition of sponsorship ads. As is often the case in life, you can find most answers by following the money. Which perhaps means that our best shot at bringing back the giant Larry O’Brien Trophy decal would be to get it sponsored.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.