Laminate for a Sports Floor?

Today we have another great question answered by the CEO Steve Simonson. I personally have had several folks in the past look into cheaper flooring options for a sporting court than the professional grade wood used by the NBA. Here is some great insight on using laminate for a sports court.
Q: Hi Steve – I really enjoyed your articles on laminate flooring, but am having trouble finding guidance on the following question: Can Laminate be used for sports flooring? We are putting in a home gym that will be used for basketball as well as various other kids activities. Laminate is attractive because it appears to have superior wear & tear characteristics, does better on a concrete slab (we will be adding a subfloor), and can withstand radiant heating (we are planning to use Nuheat electric). BUT – is it a decent sport court?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Patrick
A: I think it can work – but I really don’t know how well a basketball will bounce on it. I would use a sturdy underlayment like 6mm cork that would have excellent acoustic qualities as well as some comfort without sacrificing strength at the edges – this will work fine with the Nuheat in my opinion as well. You can put the nu-heat above the cork for maximum effect – but even if it is below (floating into the concrete) it will still work through the cork with only minimal loss of heating effect. (you’ll still need a poly-ethelyne moisture barrier too.)
I would probably also use Pergo Select as my floor of choice given the AC5 rating as well as some of the scratch resistance qualities and the lustergard.
Those are my best ideas!
Let me know how it turns out.
ss