A few years ago, I was disheartened to learn that the NBA moved its NBA Finals patches from the front of the jerseys near the collar to the back just above the nameplate.

Part of the great imagery of the league was the NBA Finals patches both teams wore while duking it out for the title. These patches were iconic staples in many of the great series in recent NBA history.

Michael Jordan’s final shot over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the 1998 finals? The patches were there. When Allen Iverson stepped over Tyronn Lue after making a clutch fadeaway jumper from the corner in the 2001 finals? The patches were there. Ray Allen’s game-tying 3-pointer in Game 6 of the 2014 finals? The patches were there. All five of Tim Duncan’s NBA titles? The patches were there. All five of Kobe Bryant’s titles? Patches, there. Right on the front of the jerseys. Every single series.

But we soon learned that there was a distinct reason for moving the patches to the back: The NBA wanted to put ads on its jerseys.

Starting in the 2017-18 season, NBA teams will display a 2½-inch-by-2½-inch advertisement on the upper-left side of the jersey in place of where the NBA logo was once displayed. When discussing the issue during his first year on the job, Commissioner Adam Silver famously said that advertisements on jerseys in major professional American sports were “inevitable” and that he wanted the NBA to be the first to tap into this market.

The NBA is trying a three-year test period for the jersey ads, during which it is expected to earn about $100 million as a result. Rent out ad space on jerseys, earn more money. So obviously it’s a smart move, right?

Wrong. It’s greedy and the NBA is pursuing this in incredibly poor taste.

In a professional sports world where we see advertisements slapped onto virtually everything under the sun, why on earth should we have to see them on jerseys?

Ad placement on jerseys in major professional soccer makes sense considering the fact that the sport has a continuously running clock, meaning there is virtually no time for commercials. Ads on soccer jerseys? Makes sense, no argument there.

The WNBA began putting ads on jerseys about a decade ago, but it makes sense considering at least half of its 12 teams have regularly struggled financially. I even had trouble even finding the league’s annual revenue figures. If the WNBA needs a little extra money by slapping massive ads on its jerseys then by all means, go for it.

But for the NBA, which pulled in a little more than $5 billion last year, to put ads on its jerseys? In contrast to the WNBA’s situation, that seems very greedy — and I hate using the word “very,” but it’s necessary here.

Not to mention, we’re talking about a league that has seen a recent influx of “max contracts,” many of which were signed during the 2016 free agency period. This offseason, the Golden State Warriors’ two-time MVP Steph Curry signed a “supermax” deal worth $201 million for five years — something that was previously unheard of in the league.

And yet you still have superstar LeBron James bashing the NBA’s salary cap on Twitter, saying that Curry should be making $400 million in five years.

All this frivolous financial ridiculousness is going on in the NBA, but yet the league still wants to put ads on its jerseys for a little extra money? I mean, I know times are tough, but that’s just plain greedy.

Luckily, the other three major sports leagues in this country are not jumping on board. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said he won’t look into it for the time being, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said he doesn’t want ads on jerseys and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t even considering it.

I must note that NFL teams feature ads on practice jerseys, but the league will likely never have ads on game jerseys, thankfully. The NFL makes tens of billions of dollars every year and is the most-profitable professional sports league in the world, so it simply has no need to stoop so low as to rent out ad space on its teams’ jerseys.

Mind you, I’m not bashing advertising as a whole. Ads are what pay the bills — they’re what pay my bills, as an employee of a newspaper — and in an openly capitalist society, ads have made their way to almost every inch of our line of vision in almost every way imaginable.

But the NBA is taking it a step further, and I’m personally disgusted by that. Golden State’s next NBA title will be brought to you by whatever company is willing to fork over the $20 million the team is asking for its jersey spot.

Silver can give all the canned answers he wants about how progressive and innovative he thinks this is, but I urge you to look past all that and see this for what it really is: greed.

Hey, I get it. It’s pro sports. Go ahead and slap ads on anything you want, but let’s leave the jerseys alone. Pretty soon, those iconic moments won’t feel as iconic anymore.