“Dear Athlete in Space,
I’m watching a basketball game, and I’m really confused about the court. I know sometimes they switch up the logo at the center. And during every commercial break, a crew runs out and paints a new sponsors’ logo at each end of the court. But now the whole court is a funky color. Help me understand why the court looks so weird.
– Confused basketball viewer”

Don’t worry, Viewer! We are here to help!

The NBA is having an in-season basketball tournament! You know how soccer has in-season tournaments? No? Well, the NBA games with the special courts are kind of like that! But the NBA is all about efficiency so the special court games count as both a tournament game and a regular season game!

So if you see a basketball court that looks like this:

or this!

or even like this!

Don’t be confused, it’s just regular old basketball! It’s just a little harder on the eyes.

Good to luck to all the teams that were volun-told to participate in the special tournament!