The Indiana Pacers will host the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and to celebrate the occasion, they’ve installed a basketball court at the airport.
It is a beautiful court and a great tribute to a state that loves its basketball. Imagine checking your bag before your departure and instead of waiting at your gate, you can get in a quick pick-up game before your departure.
While it is wonderful to fantasize about passing time before your flight by hooping, unfortunately, fans aren’t allowed to play on this court (via WTHR):
“The main attraction of the new decorations is a life-size NBA court that has been installed in the middle of the main lobby. While fans won’t be able to play basketball on the court, they’ll be able to walk on it and take photos.”
The photo opportunity is still fun, but it doesn’t quite have the same impact as it would feel to win a five-on-five run before taking off to a new city.
Even though it is disappointing to realize that this court won’t ever see any competition, this is probably for the best.
For one, the airport avoids plenty of injury risk by not allowing any games.
This would also cause some potentially major interference with the flow of the airport lobby, which includes plenty of passengers who would likely have no interest in getting hit with a ball that leaves the field of play.
We are all missing out on some fun by not making this court an active sight for hooping. But all we can do is accept that we can not always get what we want.
