The latest Brooklyn Nets’ court—unveiled last fall—was designed to be unmistakably “Brooklyn;” from the surrounding white subway tile look to the gray-colored field, an homage to the city’s legendary outdoor basketball courts. As distinctly Brooklyn as the court is, however, its birthplace is actually Shreve, Ohio, where it was carefully crafted by The Ohio Floor Company.
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The latest Brooklyn Nets’ court—unveiled last fall—was designed to be unmistakably “Brooklyn;” from the surrounding white subway tile look to the gray-colored field, an homage to the city’s legendary outdoor basketball courts. As distinctly Brooklyn as the court is, however, its birthplace is actually Shreve, Ohio, where it was carefully crafted by The Ohio Floor Company.
The company had previously done maintenance on the basketball organization’s previous court, and was asked to help bring the new vision for the flooring to life, says The Ohio Floor Company VP Kevin Miller.
"They had an idea of what they wanted design-wise, and then basically we just needed to kind of let them know if we could do it or not,” Miller says. A huge fan of the court’s unique chevron-style flooring, Miller initially had mixed feelings about the gray-tinted stain spanning the entire main field. “But soon, after we worked on some samples and saw what it could be, it fell into place,” he says.
Achieving the right gray tone was one of the most challenging parts of the job—but also one of the most fun, Miller says.
"We started off with a generic gray color, then we would maybe have to add a little bit of black or something a little darker or a little lighter to get the right shade,” he adds. “I'm not exaggerating, I probably made 50 to 100 samples before we finally got it,” Miller laughs. "It took a lot of time to get it to that point." Much of that was due to the difference in how the color looked when under intense arena lighting.
“Lighting played such a big part in all of this,” Miller says of the designing. “You try to recreate it here in our warehouse, but we just don't have the kind of spot lights and lighting systems that they have in these arenas."
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When they got the OK on the gray shade, Miller and his team assembled the 4-by-7-foot maple herringbone panels in the company’s warehouse and sanded. They then applied the carefully chosen stains for the main court and keys before adding a seal coat. After buffing, they added the court lines and used stencils to paint all of the logos, lettering and artwork on the floor. Once the art was down, they applied two topcoats on the 7,200-square-foot court. The process took two-and-a-half weeks.
The completed panels were then disassembled and loaded on a truck bound for Brooklyn.
“Normally they do the install themselves because it's what they do,” Miller says. But with it being a new floor, Miller and a crew member traveled to help them put it together for the first time.
"We were confident we got the right color, but you never know until you finally see it,” Miller chuckles. "But everything was great when we put it in and everybody was happy right from the beginning, so we knew we hit it."
Although the court now resides under the spotlights in Brooklyn, there’s lot of pride for a group of craftsmen and women in Shreve whenever it’s shown on TV.
"A good feeling is when you watch it on TV and go, 'Hey that floor was in our warehouse,’” Miller says. “That always brings a sense of satisfaction to see that court. Our guys always enjoy that."
The completed court in The Ohio Flooring Company's warehouse. Photo courtesy of The Ohio Floor Company
Suppliers:
Finish, Paint, Stain: Bona | Wood flooring: Connor Sports
