Big 12 Basketball Tournament Swaps LED Courts for Traditional Hardwood

The Big 12 has opted to swap out the cutting-edge glass-covered LED floors at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center for a classic hardwood finish for the remainder of the tournament, including the semifinals and championship game.

These LED floors, previously showcased during the 2024 NBA All-Star game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, are capable of displaying dynamic animations and graphics that can interact with player movements. They are designed to be softer than traditional hardwood while still offering comparable grip. However, during the women’s Big 12 basketball tournament last week and the early rounds of the men’s tournament this week, some players reported slipping issues, as noted by ESPN.

Texas Tech University player Christian Anderson attributed a fall that led to a groin injury during a game against Iowa State University to the LED floor. He mentioned, “Obviously the floor is a bit slippery, so I think I just kind of misstepped or did a movement that caused me to slip and kind of ended up in a little unnatural position,” according to ESPN.

The grip problems and resulting injuries prompted the coaches of the semifinal teams and Big 12 conference commissioner Brett Yormark to decide to revert to hardwood for the finals.

While reactions to the LED floors vary among teams and coaches, a significant concern is the players’ lack of experience on this new surface. Texas Tech’s coach Grant McCasland explained, “We’re just not used to playing on it, and so the difficulty is the familiarity of how it responds, and it does respond differently. Am I saying it caused problems? It was a challenge just because we don’t play on it enough to get used to how to respond to it. And I think for quick guards and change of direction, it’s difficult.”

For over a decade, many stadiums and arenas have utilized projectors to create similar animations without needing to change traditional playing surfaces. However, that technology can only be employed when players are off the court. The advantage of LED floors is their ability to run throughout an entire game without harsh lighting or shadows—provided they don’t display distracting animations during play, and players are willing to adapt to them.