Those mismatched 3-point arcs from March Madness last year? The Sports Bra made that court its bar

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The nation’s first women’s sports bar is flipping the script on one of the blunders from last year’s NCAA Tournament.

The Sports Bra acquired the court with the mismatched 3-point lines that caused a stir during the women's tournament games played in Portland, Oregon, in 2024, and installed it as a new bar top.

The way Sports Bra founder Jenny Nguyen sees it, the court brought more attention to the women’s tournament, and that attention highlighted how the women’s side can no longer be an afterthought.

And that, she says, is ultimately a good thing.

“For us, it’s that memorializing it is actually kind of changing the narrative,” Nguyen said. “It’s like the silver lining of that, and kind of putting it in as a museum piece. And what better place to put it than at the Sports Bra?"

Last year, when Portland hosted Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, the court had mismatched 3-point lines, with one side about 9 inches short of regulation at its apex.

Five games were played on the court before the lines were redrawn for the regional final between UConn and Southern California. The NCAA said the mistake was the result of human error by the finishing company.

The court issue was just one of a series of problems during the 2024 women's tournament.

In Spokane, Washington, both the men's and women's opening-round games coincided with a youth volleyball tournament, forcing some of the women's teams to be housed at hotels across the state line in Idaho. The Utah women's team said that while there, players were subjected to racist abuse by a passerby.

Additionally, a referee was pulled at halftime from an opening-round game in Raleigh, North Carolina, because of a conflict of interest. Another player was pulled from a game to remove a nose piercing.

March Madness has been largely free of controversy this year on the women's side, which Nguyen sees as a positive in the growth of women's sports. That's why she made the old court into a bar top.

“We think it’s the coolest story ever. Some of the other folks might think that it’s the biggest mistake ever and that it just memorializes a mistake and is like a scar on the tournament, and that’s just not the way we see it,” she said.

The Sports Bra, which opened in 2022, was the first in a growing number of women's sports bars across the country, including Rough & Tumble in Seattle and A Bar of Their Own in Minneapolis. With investment from Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, one of the founding owners of Angel City FC of the NWSL, the Sports Bra is looking to expand into additional markets.

Parts of the infamous court may be incorporated in those future locations, too, Nguyen said.

Similar to 2021, when inequity between the men's and women's weight rooms at the tournament spurred the NCAA to act — it's those incremental battles that lead to a better tournament for all the women and their teams. “It’s just a wild ride,” Nguyen said, “but we’re here for it."

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FILE - UConn guard Nika Muhl (10) passes the ball to teammate Ashlynn Shade (12) by the redrawn 3-point line during the first half of an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Patrons watch the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament between South Carolina and Texas at The Sports Bra sports bar on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Bartender M.J. Jones, center, works at The Sports Bra sports bar on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore., as the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament between South Carolina and Texas is displayed above. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

FILE - The Sports Bra founder and CEO Jenny Nguyen poses for a photo at the sports bar on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

FILE - Texas and North Carolina State players watch a shot during the second half of an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament, March 31, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Tim Booth, File)

Patrons watch the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament between South Carolina and Texas at The Sports Bra sports bar on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

FILE - Customers eat and watch college women's lacrosse and beach volleyball matches on big-screen TVs at The Sports Bra sports bar, April 24, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Patrons watch the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament between South Carolina and Texas at The Sports Bra sports bar on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

FILE - UConn guard Nika Muhl (10) passes the ball to teammate Ashlynn Shade (12) by the redrawn 3-point line during the first half of an Elite Eight college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament, April 1, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

A bar top is seen at The Sports Bra that the sports bar on Friday, April 4, 2025, in Portland, Ore., which was made from the court with the mismatched 3-point lines that caused a stir during the women's tournament games played in Portland in 2024. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant got in trouble again for aiming an imaginary gun to celebrate 3-pointers, so he has gone to a different make-believe violent way to mark a long-distance shot.

The Memphis Grizzlies leading scorer, who was fined $75,000 recently for mimicking pointing a long gun after a basket from outside the arc, acted like he was pulling the pin and tossing a grenade in Thursday night's 141-125 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Morant, who was 5 of 13 from 3-point range, in some cases even covered his ears after the windmill-like hurl of the invisible explosive.

"That's my celebration now until somebody else has a problem with it, and I'll find another one," Morant said after Thursday's shootaround.

The league handed down the $75,000 fine on April 4 after Morant twice made what was considered an “inappropriate” imaginary gun-aiming gesture on the court. He was previously warned by the league office that this gesture could be interpreted in a negative light.

The gestures that drew the fine were made by Morant during the Grizzlies’ 110-108 victory over the Miami Heat on April 3, but it first drew the league's attention in an April 1 home game against the Golden State Warriors.

That led to the investigation and the warning before Morant did it again against Miami.

The fine was the culmination of several questionable incidents involving firearms. Morant was suspended for 25 games at the start of the 2023-24 season after he was seen on video waving a gun in a car. He previously was suspended eight games after he was seen with a gun in a Denver-area nightspot.

“I wasn't surprised,” Morant said of the latest fine, “just for showing people what's pretty much been evident for the last two years.”

Teammate Vince Williams Jr. wasn't really surprised by the change in celebration, adding “I would have went to that too.”

“It's good for him,” Williams said. “He gets to save his money. Anything that benefits him saving his money, I'm all for it, honestly.”

But the grenade celebration drew criticism from the TNT studio crew on Thursday night. Kenny Smith noted that Morant “has a history that maybe he shouldn't be doing that.”

Shaquille O'Neal added: “He knows what he's doing because y'all are going to keep talking about it.”

As for Charles Barkley, he said the happiest person may be former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, fired March 28 because “he ain't got to deal with this immature stuff.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, front right, drives ahead of Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, back right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) handles the ball against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo, left, talks with guard Ja Morant, right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)