Celtics No. 2 in Grantland's "Court Design Power Rankings"

Yesterday we discussed Boston's disappointing No. 24 spot in ESPN's "Future Power Rankings."

Today we're proud to bring you much happier news on the rankings front from the ESPN family--Grantland's Zack Lowe has published The Definitive NBA Court Design Power Rankings, and the Celtics' TD Garden parquet floor lands at No. 2 overall.  Here's some of what Lowe had to say:

It really doesn’t need explanation, though it’s worth considering whether we worship the Boston court as iconic because it’s beautiful, or because the Celtics finagled their way into acquiring Bill Russell and then crafted so many iconic moments on this floor. 

It’s the former, at least for me. The parquet looks nice even without the history, and we can’t penalize Boston just because you could purchase actual pieces of the floor where things like “Havlicek stole the ball!” actually happened. The logo, designed by Red Auerbach’s brother Zang, has stood the test of time...

It's no surprise that Bill Simmons' Grantland might show a slight Boston bias, except that the hated Lakers earned the No. 1 spot with their Staples Center court.  How could this have happened?  Lowe writes:

One mark against the Celtics: They are the only team that uses precious baseline real estate to tout the name of the arena, and not the name of the city or team. That is corporate promotion treading into sacred territory.

In a startling upset, the reborn Charlotte Hornets and their teal and purple floor are No 3.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on twitter @LucidSportsFan