The 2023-24 NBA Broadcast Scorebug Rankings

It's time to nerd out and look at broadcast graphics, baby!

I am a nerd.

Let’s get that right out of the way.

We’re here to talk about scorebugs for the next little while. And, if you’re unfamiliar with what a “scorebug” happens to be, it’s that thing on the screen that shows you all sorts of information about the game that’s presently taking place. Generally, you’ll see time, score, timeouts remaining, foul situation, shot clock, quarter, etc. (Also, it’s sometimes called a “score bug” — two words — instead of a “scorebug” — one word — but I stick with the one-word variety; I don’t know why. Forgive me.)

Not all scorebugs are created equal. Each broadcast station has its own variation. Some add their own twists, some are bland, and others are somewhere in the middle.

So, we’re going to look at all the various ones from this season in the NBA. I did the same thing last season when I released the first rendition of this over on my Patreon (RIP in peace). But we’re here now, so let’s look at some cool (or uncool) graphics.

(One last note: these screenshots are all from games within the first month of the season so if any broadcast scorebug has changed majorly in that time, it won’t be shown here.)

32-18.) Bally Sports Conglomerate

All 15 Bally Sports NBA teams. (Click image to expand)

We start with what is, by far, the worst scorebug in the entire NBA. It’s an eyesore.

There’s zero consistency across the 15 Bally Sports broadcasts. Some, such as the San Antonio Spurs and Milwaukee Bucks, will show you the amount of remaining timeouts as well as how many fouls each team has committed in the quarter. Others don’t even show you when a team happens to be in the bonus and set to shoot free throws on the next foul. The lack of consistency is frustrating.

It’s annoying from that aspect because you would figure that if there are this many broadcasts under one umbrella, there should be at least some uniform method and model for presenting scorebugs to the general public.

With it looking like Bally Sports will no longer be carrying NBA games going into next season, it appears like this will be the last time we have to feast our eyes on their horrid display and we can move on with our lives and get set to embrace what certainly cannot be a worse way to consume information.

17.) TNT

I don’t generally mind the TNT scorebug if we’re being honest. It sits out of the way in the lower right corner, which it has for years. It shows the team abbreviations with a lit background in that team’s specific color, the score is easy to read, and the time remaining, quarter, and shot clock are also easily discernible, as well.

But the thing that holds it back, and this could be nitpicking, is that it is nearly impossible to tell when a team is in the bonus simply because the font stretches vertically in a tiny column between the score and the time with even tinnier yellow arrows pointing towards the respective team(s) that sits in the bonus.

It’s awful. I don’t understand who thought that was a good idea. It’s not great, and it docks them massively in my book despite being one of the most nitpicky things to focus on. Well, that and if there’s a team with a yellow background then it becomes tough to see how many timeouts are remaining, as seen in the picture above.

16.) Houston Rockets (Space City Home Network)

This is our first team-specific scorebug on the list, and to be honest it’s not that bad of one.

The thing that holds back this one for the Houston Rockets is that it’s bland. It’s a very mute color with the only colors shown being in the form of team logos. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it does limit their ranking on this list.

Then again, it does have all the information you’d want outside of a running tally of fouls. It’s also in a good spot and out of the way. It’s not bulky at all. It’s solid. It’s not great, but it’s solid.

15.) ESPN

Colorful is good, and I do appreciate ESPN using a style that at least makes it seem like they care about the teams that are playing.

If you’ll notice, the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have the background color and font color match what their jerseys are. That’s a great feature. As are the timeout counter and bonus font, even if it’d be better if the bonus font color was different than plain white.

However, this scorebug has always looked too video gamey to me. The white bubble background where the time remaining sits is not at all appealing. It’s just odd. Still, if you see the game on ESPN and this scorebug pops up on the screen, you’re not annoyed. So there’s that.

14.) Denver Nuggets (Altitude Sports)

Timeout counter? Check. Bonus icon? Check. Team logos? Check. Colorful nameplates for teams? Check. The Denver broadcast slots in with a solid look to their scorebug, and it’s nice to see even if at times it’s hard to read whether a team is actually in the bonus.

And therein lies why it’s not higher. The little yellow plus mark for a team being in the bonus is a cool feature, but it’s also hard to see when the background for the score is so light. There should be a greater contrast between the two to make the bonus feature pop.

Even with that slight negative, this comes across as a positive scorebug overall.

13-09.) NBC Sports Conglomerate

The 5 NBC Sports NBA teams. (Click image to expand)

I’m a sucker for colorful scorebugs. There’s something to them that just makes you happier and more willing to tune into a game. At least for me.

The NBC Sports umbrella has been pretty good with their scorebugs for a while now, and 2023-24 is no different with their five teams — Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Sacramento Kings.

It’s colorful, it’s not too massive to take away your attention, they use logos with color-coordinated backgrounds, and the foul count (with a yellow bonus stripe), timeout count, and all other sorts of necessary information are readily available. While it won’t sit at the top of this list, it’s still very, very good.

08.) New York Knicks (MSG)

It was a little bit of a toss-up in mind whether to rank this behind the NBC Sports teams or where it ultimately is, but I chose to leave it here for one simple reason: it’s clean.

The New York Knicks have a stellar broadcast when accounting for their announcers, graphics package, and scorebug. It’s simple, it’s clean, and it’s informative.

However, the thing that holds it back more than anything is that the bonus text is listed on the left side of the scorebug and it becomes hard to read sometimes. It shouldn’t be written in white font but rather in yellow. But the logo background with personalized team colors is great, as is the time, quarter, and shot clock section. It’s not bulky. The score pops, as well.

07.) Washington Wizards (Monument Sports)

This is a new broadcast scorebug for this season as the Washington Wizards were under the NBC Sports umbrella before this. And, to be honest, kudos to the Wizards for getting this scorebug right.

First, the shot clock having a red background is cool. It makes it noticeable when the shot clock is winding down on a possession. The score is easily legible, as is the time. The tracker under the team names and logos makes this a truly good scorebug, though.

The only issue, if there’s one thing to gripe about, is that the font isn’t larger when it lists timeouts, fouls, and bonus. But that’s a very minimal gripe. When you tune in, you’re getting everything necessary to watch the game without having to exert any added brainpower.

06.) Brooklyn Nets (YES)

Just like the New York Knicks broadcast, the Brooklyn Nets and YES Network deliver on a nightly basis with their combination of announcers, graphics, and scorebug. It’s a truly masterful and beautiful experience every single time you tune in.

Their scorebug is nearly flawless. What isn’t shown in the picture above is that the shot clock background turns red when it dips under six seconds. Everything is perfectly readable. They use logos and abbreviations. They list timeouts remaining, even if it’s only three.

The one hangup might be the bonus feature that, like the Knicks broadcast, sits vertically while needing you to tilt your head a bit to read it. I get why teams go with white font for the bonus feature, but opting for yellow to make it pop would do wonders for some broadcasts. Still, look at this thing. It’s gorgeous.

05.) Utah Jazz (Jazz+)

The Utah Jazz used to have a cable deal before moving to their own broadcast package, known as Jazz+. And, honestly, this looks better than what it used to be.

I get it. The scorebug looks like it came from an old-school NBA Live video game. It doesn’t look the cleanest, but it has everything you need to observe a basketball game with the necessary information at hand.

It’s low and out of the way, you get logos and abbreviations on top of team-specific colorized backgrounds. You have timeout counts, the bonus font that pops up under the timeouts, an easy-to-read score, quarter, time remaining, and a shot clock timer that turns to red late in the clock. It’s good. Well done.

04.) Toronto Raptors (SportsNet)

The Toronto Raptors routinely have a good scorebug. If memory serves me correctly, I think I had them third last season. It’s largely unchanged since then so they retain their Top-5 spot as a result.

It’s clean, it’s smooth, it gives you what you need, there’s good color to it, and the score is a larger font that doesn’t find you having to adjust your eyes to find it. There are timeouts, bonus text, and everything else.

The only thing that could potentially enhance the experience is perhaps adding team-specific logos, as well. But that’s nitpicking a tad too much. This is a quality scorebug through and through.

03.) Phoenix Suns (Suns Live)

The Phoenix Suns, like the Utah Jazz, were part of a larger broadcast network before this season. The Suns used to be on Bally Sports, but this summer they started their own direct-to-consumer product known as Suns Live.

The scorebug that they chose, much like the Jazz as well, isn’t some super sexy thing that’ll catch your eyes at first. However, glance at it and realize what you’re getting here. Big score, foul counter, little notches for timeouts, team logos, colorized backgrounds, etc.

Perhaps the only hangup might be that the shot clock background should be a different color so that when it goes red for late-in-the-clock situations, the red font doesn’t somewhat bleed into the slate background. But this is good stuff. Seriously. Very well done on Phoenix’s part.

02.) Los Angeles Lakers (Spectrum SportsNet)

For the second year in a row, the Los Angeles Lakers come second-best. But there’s absolutely no shame in that. There are no flaws here. Seriously. Look at this beautiful thing.

Team logos. Personalized team colors behind said logos. A shot clock that has a hint of red behind it to make it pop more. Quarter, time remaining, and shot clock are all on the same plane. Timeout counter. And, the pièce de résistance: Yellow. Bonus. Sign.

Every other team broadcast could learn from the Lakers and Spectrum SportsNet to some degree. It’s arguably the gold standard in basketball and should be commended as such. It’s tremendous.

01.) Portland Trail Blazers (Root Sports)

Look at this beauty. Please, just look at it.

Bask in its glory.

Pray at its altar.

The Portland Trail Blazers and Root Sports have done it again, folks. They’ve produced the best damn scorebug in the NBA for the second year in a row.

Team logos are enlarged over the top of colorized backgrounds. A timeout counter with notches. The penalty text to let you know when a team is in the bonus. Could it be yellow? Sure it could. But we’re not going to fault them for that here since everything else is sublime.

Spelled-out quarter text. The time remaining in the quarter. The shot clock is on top of a gray background that turns red when it’s running low, and while it’s not on the actual scorebug itself, there’s a shot clock on the court that sits just above the free-throw line so you don’t need to look at the scorebug to figure out how much is left on the shot clock during a specific possession.

This is the G.O.A.T. scorebug. And don’t even get me started on all the other information that pops out of here like when players check in and out of the game and it informs you so you aren’t lost when watching.

Oh, and it’s the only scorebug that is in the lower left corner. It’s unique. It’s the gold standard. You beautiful scorebug, you.