It only makes sense that Grantland, a high-brow online sports publication owned by ESPN, would invest in a documentary about the redemption story of Milwaukee's MECCA basketball court. The court is unlike any other, with a history to match.
Designed by pop artist Robert Indiana in the 1970s, the court's painted floor was an instant celebrity when revealed to the public. The court's ostentatious colors, wildly out of step with the humble people of Wisconsin, gave the Bucks a home advantage because visiting team opponents, disoriented by the popping hues underfoot, often found themselves stepping out of bounds or planting for too long in the lane.
The team moved into the nearby Bradley Center in 1988, but the court didn't move with them. Packed up and forgotten for years, a Bucks fan with no business purchasing basketball courts-he wasn't a contractor and he wasn't wealthy-charged the court to his credit card for a cool $20,000.
We were tipped off about the floor and published a story earlier this year in our December 2013/January 2014 issue. You can read our story here.
From Grantland: "This is the story of how a Bucks fan discovered the floor being sold for scrap and worked with his friends and the artist … to bring the iconic work back to life."
The Grantland video comes in at just under 14 minutes. You can watch it on their website.
