Technology and the digital revolution have changed and altered countless lives, business industries, and the sporting world. The NBA and its teams have all been open to the new wave of innovations and technologies. From wearable technology to advanced statistics, these and other developments are changing the way basketball is analyzed, watched, and played. In this article, we are going to list down some of these technologies.
On-Demand Viewing
Back in the 1995-96 season, the Chicago Bulls were on their way to a 72-10, which is then the best record in NBA history. During that game, basketball fans who live outside the Chicago area were only able to watch them play in nationally televised games.
Twenty years later, the Golden State Warriors broke the Bull’s record with 73 wins. Today, fans have access to season-long subscriptions because of NBA League Pass. This pass allows them to watch any game from anywhere, and they could also buy a single-game stream online.
For a cost less than a movie ticket price, basketball fans can now watch a single game between any two teams in the NBA. Not only that, but they can also watch the game on ever-expanding platforms.
SportVU
The use of SportVU cameras and their accompanying data on every arena in the NBA has revolutionized the way basketball games are analyzed. Commentators and basketball enthusiasts will no longer judge a player simply on rebounds, points, assists, steals, blocks, and field-goal percentage. Today, we can now see where and how those points were scored, how many points a player has generated with his assists, if a rebound was contested, and so much more. Not only that, these statistics can be viewed by anyone at the NBA website, and it can provide countless hours of exploration.
Wearable Technology
Monitors and other devices that are used to measure several things, such as heart rate to player motion, are slowly changing the way NBA teams approach the game. Wearable technology is changing the way basketball is played because these tracking devices can tell so much about the player’s health from preventing injuries, predicting them, keeping the players healthy, and monitoring their training loads. In a sport that is a star-driven league, wearable technology is helping teams keep their franchise players on the floor. The sensors in the wearable devices gives the coach information about the player’s rotation, jump acceleration, and hang time which in turn help the team to utilize particular players.
Mobile Devices
We all know how smartphones and mobile devices are affecting our lives every day. This technology also affects the lives of basketball teams and their fans. Today, most team coaches use tablets during games to walk players through an upcoming defensive possession and a lot more strategies. The dry-erase marker and whiteboard might be a traditional way to approach the game, but tablets and other smart mobile devices provide more possibilities for the team to win the game.
Innovative shoes
Leading sport shoe brand, Nike have produced a self-lacing basketball sneaker that’s able to adapt on the go. It is an innovative shoe with a tiny engine embedded within its fabric is able to mold around the player’s feet as he plays the game. The shoes can adapt to any changes of the feet’s shape, contour, and even swelling.
Social Media
Social media definitely changed the way writers, fans, and athletes interact in the world of sports. For example, during an NBA game, fans and sports channels are live-tweeting the game. From their analysis to their reaction, the game’s highlights reach people from all around the world faster than ever before. The NBA took advantage of social media by partnering with Twitter to make a custom timeline for fans who wanted a blow-by-blow update of the action on more than one screen. Social media is a perfect complement to the live game experience because it conveniently gathers all the highlights of the game as well as real-time conversations in one place.